Synopses & Reviews
What is a human person, and what is the relation between a person and his or her body? In her third book on the philosophy of mind, Lynne Rudder Baker investigates what she terms the person/body problem and offers a detailed account of the relation between human persons and their bodies. Baker's argument is based on the "Constitution View" of persons and bodies, which aims to show what distinguishes persons from all other beings and to show how we can be fully material beings without being identical to our bodies. This book will be of interest to professional philosophers and graduate students, and will also appeal to psychologists and cognitive scientists interested in the philosophy of mind.
Review
"Baker (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) develops a sustained argument defending view of persons. Her argument links the body to the mind by means of the constitution view..." Choice
Synopsis
What is the relation between a person and his or her body? In her third book on the philosophy of mind, Lynne Rudder Baker investigates what she terms the person/body problem and offers a detailed account of the relation between human persons and their bodies.
Table of Contents
Preface; Part I. The Metaphysical Background: 1. Persons in the material world; 2. The very idea of constitution; 3. The first-person perspective; Part II. The Constitution View Explained: 4. The constitution view of human persons; 5. Personal identity over time; 6. The importance of being a person; Part III. The Constitution View Defended: 7. The coherence of the idea of material constitution; 8. The coherence of the constitution view; 9. In favor of the constitution view.