Thinking Matter: Consciousness from Aristotle to Putnam and Sartre

by Catalano,Joseph S.

• ISBN13: 9780415926652
• ISBN10: 0415926653
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-05-08
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Thinking Matteris an original and provocative look at the nature of consciousness. While many contemporary philosophers have downplayed the significance of the body and subscribed to a brain/body dualism in human consciousness, Joseph S. Catalano argues that it is theentirefleshy body that thinks; the body of the dancer, the hands of the writer, and the eyes of the reader are not merely instruments of thought, but forms of thought itself. Calling for a thorough rethinking of philosophic traditions from Aristotle to Sartre, Catalano offers a holistic view of the bodily nature of consciousness--one that focuses on the total organic body rather than the brain alone.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction: The Perspective	1	(16)
PART ONE THE BODY AND THE WORLD
Matter and Pure Enquiry	17	(22)
Moving Matter, Thinking Thoughts	39	(30)
Knowledge as Worldmaking	69	(26)
Matters and Modalities	95	(20)
PART TWO ON THINGS AND NAMES
Names and Things	115	(14)
The Transcendence of Mind	129	(16)
The Written Word	145	(52)
Conclusion: The Anthropocentric Universe	165	(10)
APPENDICES
Appendix I. The Snub and the Population Question	175	(14)
Appendix II. On Names	189	(8)
Notes	197	(20)
Selected Bibliography	217	(5)
Index	222