The Undivided Self: Aristotle and the 'Mind-Body' Problem

by David Charles

Overview

Aristotle initiated the systematic investigation of perception, the emotions, memory, desire and action, developing his own account of these phenomena and their interconnection. The aim of this book is to gain a philosophical understanding of his views and to examine how far they withstand critical scrutiny. Aristotle's account, it is argued, constitutes a philosophically live alternative to conventional post-Cartesian thinking about psychological phenomena and their place in a material world. It offers a way to dissolve, rather than solve, the mind-body problem we have inherited.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198869566
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/16/2021
Series:	Oxford Aristotle Studies Series
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Charles, Professor of Philosophy, Yale University

Professor David Charles was a Fellow of Philosophy in Oriel College from 1978 before moving to Yale in 2014 and was a Research Professor in Oxford from 2008 to 2014. He has held Visiting Professorships at Rutgers, UCLA, Brown, Tokyo Metropolitan, Taiwan National and Venice Universities. He was a co-founder of the European Society of Ancient Philosophy and is an Honorary Fellow of the National Technical University of Athens.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. The Emotions2. Enmattered form: Aristotle's Hylomorphism3. Desire and Action4. Taste and Smell: with some remarks on Touch5. Hearing, Seeing and Hylomorphism6. Perception, Desire and Action: inextricably embodied subjects7. Aristotle's Viewpoint8. Aristotle's Undivided Self

Editorial Reviews

"This exegetical work...makes an important contribution to our philosophical understanding of the mind body relationship." — Andree Hahmann, GNOMON

"So filled is it with careful, intelligent, and fruitful speculation that this review has, of necessity, prescinded from discussing the many measured investigations of Aristotelian texts it offers. These investigations are none the less surely worth studying, in one way by any scholar interested in Aristotle's psychology and in another way by any metaphysically informed philosopher of mind. Charles, as these pages make clear, is both." — Christopher Shields, Australasian Journal of Philosophy

"The range of issues addressed in the volume and its unflagging engagement with these issues will be a source of inspiration to its readers as an example of intellectual courage." — REFIK GÜREMEN, Middle East Technical University, THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

"The result is a splendid study, technical yet readable, and extremely compelling. The audience for this indispensable volume will be scholars in a variety of philosophical fields, including ancient philosophy and philosophy of mind. The book will also appeal to psychologists with theoretical interests." — F. A. Grabowski, Rogers State University, Choice Connect

"This important and challenging book is the fruit of many years of engagement with Aristotle's thinking about the soul-body relation by one of the most distinguished experts in the field. David Charles does what many have tried to do during the past fifty years, but he does it with more radicalism and ingenuity than, as far as I can see, anyone has done before. . . . The Undivided Self confronts us with important questions about the fundaments of our thinking about mind and nature.It presents a serious challenge to modern interpreters of Aristotle and demands attention from contemporary philosophers of mind." — Klaus Corcilius, Mind

"This book best shows its brilliance in its subtle analysis of Aristotle's remarks on emotion, desire, perception, and imagination, its grand systematizing ambition, and its spirited defense of the credibility of an Aristotelian approach to philosophical psychology. Charles succeeds in laying a simple, elegant theoretical foundation upon which he is then able to erect an intricate edifice of nuanced observations. This achievement is the culmination of decades of thought about some of the most important issues in Aristotle's philosophical psychology and will be indispensable for those interested in carrying discussion of such issues forward." — Bryan Reece, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"the book strikes the reader as an example of how a line of interpretation can be developed into a compelling reading at the hands of a perspicacious scholar. . . . [Charles] offers, in the introduction, different paths of reading his book through its chapters, which makes it all the more appealing to specialists, and to non-specialists as well, in philosophy of mind and ancient philosophy. The range of issues addressed in the volume and its unflagging engagement with these issues will be a source of inspiration to its readers as an example of intellectual courage." — Refik Güremen, The Classical Review

From the Publisher