Mind-Body Philosophy

De: Patrick Grim, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Patrick Grim

How is it that our brain creates all the subjective experiences of our lives every single day - the experiences we call reality? That is the mind-body problem. In Mind-Body Philosophy, Professor Patrick Grim of the State University of New York at Stony Brook leads an intellectually exhilarating tour through millennia of philosophy and science addressing one of life's greatest conundrums. But you won't just be a spectator as Dr. Grim engages and encourages each of us to come to our own conclusions. Is the mind part of the body? Or could the body be part of the mind? And if they are separate, what is the mechanism for interaction? This course poses these challenging questions, and more, for philosophers and scientists of all levels.

In this course you'll learn about the many ways in which philosophy, mathematics, psychology, and cutting-edge neuroscience have weighed in on the mind-body problem, all to varying degrees of success. You'll learn how computers and artificial intelligence have challenged our notions of the mind and consciousness and what scientists have learned from our dreams, hallucinations, and experiences under anesthesia. And you'll enjoy the fascinating, creative thought experiments that address knowledge, perception, and consciousness.

What is the answer to the mind-body problem? No one knows...yet. But in Mind-Body Philosophy, Dr. Grim suggests a new method of inquiry that could possibly lead to a solution: a philosophical science of consciousness combining the best that philosophy and science have to offer. But even without an answer, Dr. Grim says, this passionate pursuit of truth is a crucially important enterprise in itself.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

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Interesting theories, well written and spoken.

The professor had and interesting take on how our minds work and why. I'll need to listen a few times to absorb it all.

Eye-opening...and brain perplexing.

This is an excellent series of lectures, in which the lecturer presents you with all the info you need to come up with your own educated opinion on one of the most complex problems in history.

The mind-brain dilemma

There is an assumption in Western thought, medicine, and philosophy that the mind resides in and someday will be found in the brain. In this lecture series the philosophical discussions are compelling, but more recent neuroscience research makes the neurological information outdated. Which is understandable, considering the speed at which research is advancing knowledge faster than it can be reported.
The section on dissociation is in error, as well-trained PTSD and DID clinicians can attest.
As the lecturer states at the end, the discussions here would do well to include Buddhist philosophical perspectives. Time and time again, Buddhist thought is often proven correct, when scientific and medical research finally creates measurement tools sensitive enough to evaluate the nuances of mind processes, perception, and meta-awareness.

Amazing!

Very well read, thought provoking, and educational. there is so much information, I will likely listen to it again.

Grim Explains It All<br />

Dr Grim has a gift of rendering complex concepts in their simplest terms. This does not mean dumbed down. It means that he simplifys the life's work of highly intelligent men and women into what can be explained in a series of lectures. Listening to him speaking makes me think that being in his classes would be fascinating. I had a question about the bi cameral mind theory of Julian Jaynes, emailed Professor Grim and he sent me an answer the next day.

Spotlight of Clarity on the Mind-Body Problem

A masterful elucidation of an age old philosophical problem. Narration was excellent making listening easy and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Mind-Body Problem.

Clearly from the materialistic perspective.

What made the experience of listening to Mind-Body Philosophy the most enjoyable?

Hey the best thing about this is it puts forth the best case for a materialist view of the mind as just part of the brain. Unfortunately it is too early to conclude that the mind is just an illusion we have about our brains. This course makes the best effort to come to that conclusion.

What a great lens for examining philosophy and the sciences

This guy does an amazing job of bringing together all sorts of ideas from all sorts of places in a way that both helps you think about the hard problem of consciousness and makes you realize how central the problem is to your concept of what it means (to you personally) to think and speak subjectively. Loved it!!

Enjoyable!

A worthwhile great course. A thoughtful survey of the present status of various disciplines relating to the mind body phenomena.

Another Great Courses Homerun!

Any additional comments?

In this course, an old crusty philosophical problem crashes headlong into bleeding edge science. In 1,000 years from now, will we have a decisive answer to the philosophical puzzle of consciousness? I don't know. But in 100 years from now, it seems likely we'll have made exciting progress into the relevant neuroscience and hopefully AI as well. This is why I believe most contemporary academics - as Professor Grim states in the first lecture - are materialists; this is where the progress is.

Also for this reason, the course really starts for me around Lecture 15 on machine consciousness, and is in full swing by Lecture 19 on the binding problem. So if you are not impressed in the beginning, make sure to ride it out. Lecture 21 "Of Mind, Materialism, and Zombies" is probably the coolest and most intellectually stimulating single Great Courses lecture. Not to say the course as a whole is the best - although it's up there - but that one lecture alone is worth this whole course.

If you are interested in further (very technical and abstract) knowledge on the AI side of this coin, I highly recommend On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins, as I fully recommend this course.