7. The Witness and the Watched: Yoga and Sāṃkhya
Sue Hamilton
in Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
The mental exercises, or meditative disciplines, known as ‘yoga’ have been a part of Indian tradition since very early times. Over time, many different varieties of yoga have been taught. ...
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2. From humours to cells: components of mind
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
‘From humours to cells’ explores historical perspectives on the brain. The Greeks were the first to see that the brain was central to thought. Hippocrates postulated that there were four ...
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5. Categories and Method: Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya
Sue Hamilton
in Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
One of the earliest systems of thought to emerge from the early milieu (2nd century bce), which was concerned with ‘what to look at’, was that of Kaṇāda, as recorded in his Vaiśeṣika Sūtra. ...
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1. Life and work
A. C. Grayling
in Russell: A Very Short Introduction
‘Life and work’ outlines the contributions of Bertrand Russell to the technical fields of logic and philosophy as well as describing his private life — his marriages, agnosticism, pacifism, ...
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2. The mechanical mind
Tim Bayne
in Thought: A Very Short Introduction
What makes a thinker? It has been argued that thought comes from a non-physical medium such as a soul or immaterial mind. This notion has few advocates in science or philosophy, who endorse ...
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6. Philosophical problems in physics, biology, and psychology
Samir Okasha
in Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
‘Philosophical problems in physics, biology, and psychology’ examines three philosophical questions that are specific to particular sciences. First, the debate between Gottfried Leibniz and ...
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1. Matter and Metaphysics
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
‘Matter and Metaphysics’ explores Descartes' theory that only geometrical properties — length, depth, and breadth — were essential to matter, and that only these properties and motion were ...
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5. Social communication: the heart of the matter
Uta Frith
in Autism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Social communication: the heart of the matter’ asks: Why can't you fully share in the social world if you are autistic? Is there an extra social sense, beyond sound, sight, or touch, that ...
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3. The inner sanctum
Tim Bayne
in Thought: A Very Short Introduction
Thinking is a private activity. Thought can't be accessed by anyone else. This concept of thoughts is described as Cartesian after René Descartes. ‘The inner sanctum’ focuses on the ...
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5. ‘They don’t think like we do’
Tim Bayne
in Thought: A Very Short Introduction
Are the structures of thought fundamentally invariant across changes of cultural context, or is it true that ‘they’ do not think like ‘we’ do? Most psychologists consider human thought as ...
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5. Material minds
Catherine Wilson
in Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Material minds’ considers Epicurus’ theory of perception and his views on knowledge and truth. The Epicureans maintained that the soul, like everything else, was material, composed of very ...
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5. The voice of conscience: is it still to be heard?
Paul Strohm
in Conscience: A Very Short Introduction
Conscience retains its Roman inheritance of a spoken intervention. It is a voice. It needs to secure rights and means of speech if it is to make its influence felt. However, conscience ...
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1. ‘Who am I?’ Identity in philosophy
Florian Coulmas
in Identity: A Very Short Introduction
The question of how consciousness and self-awareness connect with personal identity has accompanied philosophy since antiquity. Sages of diverse orientations have put forth various ...
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16. Body
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
Just as Descartes conceived the mind without attributes involving a body as complete, so a conception of body that omits all properties dependent on a mind was also considered complete. ...
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15. The Mind
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
Descartes' sharp distinction between mind and body is known as Cartesian Dualism: the mind is one sort of substance, the body another. ‘The Mind’ argues that Descartes classifies minds ...
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The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
Michael O'Shea
How does the brain work? The Brain, A Very Short Introduction provides a non-technical introduction to the main issues and findings in current brain research, and gives a sense of how ...
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4. Learning and animal culture
Tristram D. Wyatt
in Animal Behaviour: A Very Short Introduction
Learning is an animal’s capacity to change behaviour, as the result of individual experience, so that it is better adapted to the animal’s physical and social environments. Learning helps ...
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Russell: A Very Short Introduction
A. C. Grayling
Russell: A Very Short Introduction provides an account of the life of Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), one of the most famous and important philosophers of the twentieth century. ...
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3. Philosophy, mind, and science
A. C. Grayling
in Russell: A Very Short Introduction
‘Philosophy, mind, and science’ considers the questions of method and metaphysics that became important to Bertrand Russell during the course of his work on perception. The philosophy and ...
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4. Man
Roger Scruton
in Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction
Spinoza believed that all things exist necessarily in thoroughgoing interdependence. This seems to leave the whole of morality in doubt. ‘Man’ considers what Spinoza's philosophy has to say ...
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