Mental Action and the Conscious Mind

This collection explores the role of conscious mental action in shaping our daily lives and consciousness. It questions whether mental action can be reduced to non-agential states and if it should be included in the ontology of the conscious mind. The thirteen original essays provide a wide-ranging vision of the philosophical issues at stake, aimed at demonstrating the significance of mental action for discussions of agency and mind.

Format: Hardback
Length: 310 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Mental action holds a crucial place among foundational topics in the realms of action theory and philosophy of mind. However, recent accounts of human agency often overlook the significant role that conscious mental action plays in our daily lives. At the same time, contemporary accounts of the conscious mind tend to diminish the importance of mental action and agency in shaping consciousness. This collection seeks to establish the centrality of mental action for discussions of agency and mind.

Thirteen original essays are included in this collection, offering a comprehensive vision of the diverse and intricate philosophical issues at stake. Contributors explore a range of questions, including:

Which aspects of our conscious mental lives are agential?
Can mental action be reduced to and explained in terms of non-agential mental states, processes, or events?
Must mental action be included among the ontological categories required for understanding and explaining the conscious mind more broadly?
Does mental action have implications for related topics such as attention, self-knowledge, self-control, or the mind-body problem?

By investigating the nature, scope, and explanation of mental action, the essays presented here aim to demonstrate the significance of conscious mental action for discussions of agency and mind.

This book will appeal to scholars and graduate students engaged in the fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and philosophy of agency, as well as to those with a philosophical interest in cognitive science.

Weight: 760g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367077518