Description
Book SynopsisA singularly powerful and rigorous argument in favor of modern substance dualism
In The Substance of Consciousness: A Comprehensive Defense of Contemporary Substance Dualism, two distinguished philosophers deliver a unique and powerful defense of contemporary substance dualism, which makes the claim that the human person is an embodied fundamental, immaterial, and unifying substance. Multidisciplinary in scope, the book explores areas of philosophy, cognitive science, neuroscience, and the sociology of mind-body beliefs.
The authors present the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and rigorous non-edited work on substance dualism in the field, as well as a detailed history of how property and substance dualism have been presented and evaluated over the last 150 years. Alongside developing new and updated positive arguments for substance dualism, they also discuss key metaphysical notions and distinctions that inform the examination of substance dualism and its alterna
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"Though most materialists don't know it, we're in the midst of a renaissance of intellectually serious substance dualism thirty years in the making. The Substance of Consciousness will push the crest of that dualist wave even higher. Materialists who hope to resist have our work cut out for us."
—Andrew M. Bailey, Yale-NUS College
"Rickabaugh and Moreland have produced a tour de force in this brilliant, systematic case for contemporary forms of substance dualism. It is a treasure trove of arguments, objections, and replies that should be required reading in philosophy of mind today, challenging the current, ingrained prejudice against dualism."
—Charles Taliaferro, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, St. Olaf College
"Moreland and Rickabaugh have written the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and sophisticated defense of substance dualism available. They successfully tackle every anti-dualist argument in the literature, demonstrating both the variety of options available to dualists and the fruitfulness of the dualist framework for future scientific and philosophical research. Especially impressive is their e creative use of neo-Aristotelian, scholastic, and 19th-century sources (Brentano, Husserl) to develop an attractive synthesis of dualism with hylomorphism. They bring to philosophy of mind theoretical resources, including the metaphysics of mereology, that is tragically absent in today's debates."
—Robert C. Koons, University of Texas at Austin
"This is a stunning book. Rickabaugh and Moreland marshal a formidable phalanx of arguments for substance dualism as an account of consciousness and various aspects of the soul/mind and body relation. They provide persuasive answers to every common objection showing that contemporary Substance Dualism is philosophically superior and consistent with the latest cognitive science. No reasonable physicalists can ignore this book."
—C. Stephen Evans, Emeritus University Professor, Baylor University and Professorial Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame Australia
"Moreland and Rickabaugh's monograph is a first-rate treatment of the most important issues concerning the existence and nature of consciousness and the soul. I highly recommend it!"
—Stewart Goetz, Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in Philosophy and Religion, Ursinus College
"This book is a tour de force on the topic of consciousness. Rickabaugh and Moreland offer a depth of analysis that interacts with the latest and best work on this topic in recent years."
—Joshua Rasmussen, Azusa Pacific University
"Can we explain the unity of consciousness, or our continuity over time, without the postulation of a simple, immaterial entity as the seat of human consciousness? Materialists and panpsychists hope we can, but The Substance of Consciousness raises powerful challenges to all of these attempts to explain the human mind 'on the cheap.' Anyone working on the philosophy of consciousness needs to confront these arguments and work out how to respond. It's not easy!"
—Philip Goff, Durham University
Table of ContentsList of Figures xxi
Acknowledgments xxii
Part I Ontologically Serious Philosophy of Mind 1
1 Substance Dualism in the 21st Century 3
2 How Staunch Naturalism Shapes the Dialectic in Philosophy of Mind 16
3 A Brief Ontological Detour: Subjects, Parts, Wholes, and Unity 43
Part II Arguments from Introspection, Self-Awareness, and Intentionality 57
4 The Real Nature of Introspection Arguments for Substance Dualism 59
5 From Self-Awareness and Intentionality to the Self as Soul 74
Part III On the Fundamental Unity of Conscious Beings 117
6 From Phenomenal Unity to the Synchronic Unity of the Immaterial Self 119
7 Mereological Essentialism and the Diachronic Endurance of the Soul 144
Part IV Updated and Novel Arguments from Modality and Libertarian Freedom 189
8 Upgrading Modal Arguments for Substance Dualism 191
9 Staunch Libertarian Agency and the Simple, Enduring Soul 234
Part V New and Neglected Responses to Common Defeaters Against Substance Dualism 273
10 Important Frequently Raised Defeaters Against Substance Dualism 275
Part VI Charting a Future for Substance Dualism 309
11 New Research Programs for 21st Century Substance Dualism 311
APPENDIX: The Soul, Mental Action, and the Conservation Laws 344
Mihretu P. Guta
Bibliography 361
Index 392
