The Substance of Consciousness
Description
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 alternatives.
Readers will also find:
A thorough examination of the recent shift away from standard physicalism and the renaissance of substance dualism
Comprehensive explorations of the likely future of substance dualism in the twenty-first century, including an exhaustive list of proposed research projects for substance dualists
Practical discussion of new and rigorous critiques of significant physicality alternatives, including emergentism and panpsychism.
Extensive treatments of philosophy of mind debates about the roles played by staunch/faint-hearted naturalism and theism in establishing or presuming methodology, epistemic priorities, and prior metaphysical commitments
Perfect for professional philosophers, The Substance of Consciousness will also earn a place in the libraries of consciousness researchers, philosophical theologians, and religious studies scholars.
<b>A singularly powerful and rigorous argument in favor of modern substance dualism</b>
In <i>The Substance of Consciousness: A Comprehensive Defense of Contemporary Substance Dualism</i>, 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 alternatives.
Readers will also find:
<ul><li>A thorough examination of the recent shift away from standard physicalism and the renaissance of substance dualism </li><li>Comprehensive explorations of the likely future of substance dualism in the twenty-first century, including an exhaustive list of proposed research projects for substance dualists </li><li>Practical discussion of new and rigorous critiques of significant physicality alternatives, including emergentism and panpsychism.</li><li>Extensive treatments of philosophy of mind debates about the roles played by staunch/faint-hearted naturalism and theism in establishing or presuming methodology, epistemic priorities, and prior metaphysical commitments </li></ul>Perfect for professional philosophers, <i>The Substance of Consciousness</i> will also earn a place in the libraries of consciousness researchers, philosophical theologians, and religious studies scholars.
Reviews / Votes
"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
"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. <i>The Substance of Consciousness</i> will push the crest of that dualist wave even higher. Materialists who hope to resist have our work cut out for us."
<b><i>Andrew M. Bailey, Yale-NUS College</i></b>
"Rickabaugh and Moreland have produced a <i>tour de force</i> 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."
<b><i>Charles Taliaferro, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, St. Olaf College</i></b>
"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."
<b><i>Robert C. Koons, University of Texas at Austin</i></b>
"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."
<b><i>C. Stephen Evans, Emeritus University Professor, Baylor University and Professorial Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame Australia</i></b>
"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!"
<b><i>Stewart Goetz,</i></b><b><i>Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in Philosophy and Religion, Ursinus College</i></b>
"This book is a <i>tour de force</i> 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."
<b><i>Joshua Rasmussen, Azusa Pacific University</i></b>
"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 <i>The Substance of Consciousness</i> 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!"
<b><i>Philip Goff, Durham University</i></b>
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Persons
J.P. Moreland is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He has authored or contributed to ninety-five books, including Does God Exist? (Prometheus), Universals (McGill-Queen's), Consciousness and the Existence of God (Routledge), The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism, and Debating Christian Theism (Oxford). He has also published around one hundred articles in journals such as Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, and Religious Studies. In 2016 and 2022, Moreland was selected by The Best Schools as one of the 50 most influential living philosophers in the world.
<b>Brandon Rickabaugh </b>is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Research Scholar of Philosophy of Technology and Culture at Palm Beach Atlantic University. His work has won multiple awards and published in academic journals and books with presses such as Wiley Blackwell and Oxford University Press, including <i>The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism</i>, <i>Faith and Virtue Formation.</i> Dr. Rickabaugh is a fellow of the Cultura Initiative at The Martin Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, where he explores how the nature of consciousness and developing technologies, including artificial intelligence, impact human flourishing and culture. For more, visit www.brandonrickabaugh.com.
<b>J.P. Moreland </b>is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He has authored or contributed to ninety-five books, including <i>Does God Exist?</i> (Prometheus), <i>Universals</i> (McGill-Queen's), <i>Consciousness and the Existence of God</i> (Routledge), <i>The</i> <i>Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology</i>, <i>The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism</i>, and <i>Debating Christian Theism</i> (Oxford). He has also published around one hundred articles in journals such as <i>Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, </i>and<i> Religious Studies</i>. In 2016 and 2022, Moreland was selected by <i>The Best Schools</i> as one of the 50 most influential living philosophers in the world.
Content
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Extended Table of Contents
List of Figures
<b>Part I: Ontologically Serious Philosophy of Mind: Contemporary and Tenacious Insights </b>
Substance Dualism in the 21st Century
How Staunch Naturalism Shapes the Dialectic in Philosophy of Mind
A Brief Ontological Detour: Subjects, Parts, Wholes, and Unity
<b>Part II: Arguments from Introspection, Self-Awareness, and Intentionality </b>
The Nature of Introspection and Arguments for Substance Dualism
From Self-Awareness and Intentionality to the Immaterial Self
<b>Part III: On the Fundamental Unity of Conscious Beings </b>
From Phenomenal Unity to the Synchronic Unity of the Immaterial Self
Mereological Essentialism and the Diachronic Endurance of the Soul
<b>Part IV: Updated and Novel Arguments from Modality and Libertarian Freedom </b>
Updating Modal Arguments for Substance Dualism
Staunch Libertarian Agency and a Simple, Enduring Soul
<b>Part V: New and Neglected Responses to Common Defeaters Against Substance Dualism </b>
Important and Recited Defeaters Against Substance Dualism
<b>Part V: Charting a Future for Substance Dualism </b>
New Research Programs for 21st Century Substance Dualism
<b>APPENDIX</b>: Neuroscience, Mental Action, and the Conservation Laws, by Mihretu P. Guta
Bibliography