Self in Historical Context (Part Two), The
Continuing his discussion of the self in historical context, philosopher Charles Taylor talks about the progression of ideas about the self from Descartes through John Locke. It was from Locke that what Professor Taylor calls the "punctual self" tha...
Inner Self and External World
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about the views of multiple philosophers concerning how the inner self encounters the every day reality of the external world.
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about the concept of the mind, and how it's changed since the time of the early Greeks. He notes that Descartes was the first to say intellect, soul and mind are one and the same thing.
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam expands on his views about the mind, noting that Freud and most others in the psychology arena disputed the notion that the functioning of the mind is entirely conscious. Professor Putnam adds that with very few exceptions,...
Individual and the Community, The
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum discusses the relationship between the individual self and the community. She maintains that even with a spirit of altruism at work, even with an awareness of and concern for the community and the family unit, it is very ...
Are We Social Beings?: Identity and Culture
"Are We Social Beings?" looks at the relationship between personality and culture while contrasting the atomistic and societal views of the self represented by Descartes and Hegel. Using the endangered culture of the Laplanders in Sweden as the basi...
Brain in a Vat (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam explains his "brain in a vat" theory. This theory calls into question basic human assumptions about knowledge and reality on the grounds that we have no way of knowing if what we think we see and experience and believe to b...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Renes Descartes and the Mind-Body Problem
Descartes maintained that the entire universe consists of two substances, matter which exists in space and mind which has no spatial or physical properties. This doctrine becomes known as Cartesian dualism. Perhaps the hardest question for Cartesian...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Renes Descartes, a Solitary Thinker
Philosopher Rene Descartes believed that he functioned best as a solitary thinker. As he wrote in his Meditations it was only when he has no involvements or concerns that he could think philosophy and get it right. In one famous meditation Descartes...
Knowledge
Philosopher Charles Taylor talks about different understandings of knowledge, beginning with Descartes, who believed that knowledge is inner representation of outer reality.