Featuring thirteen specially commissioned chapters on core subjects, The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy of Mind is an essential tool for all those studying and working in the field, purpose-built for use on courses in this area of philosophy. Beginning with 'How to Use this Book' the Companion includes overviews of perennial problems and new directions in contemporary philosophy of mind, an extended glossary of terms for quick reference, a detailed chronology, a guide to research for ongoing study and a comprehensive bibliography of key classic and contemporary publications in the philosophy of mind. From new questions concerning qualia, representation, embodiment and cognition to fresh thinking about the long-standing problems of physicalism, dualism, personal identity and mental causation, this book is an authoritative survey of the latest research from experts in one of the most active areas of philosophical inquiry.

A comprehensive reference guide to current research in Philosophy of Mind, assembled by an international team of leading scholars in the discipline.

The philosophy of mind is one of the fastest-growing areas in philosophy, not least because of its connections with related areas of psychology, linguistics and computation. This Companion is an alphabetically arranged reference guide to the subject, firmly rooted in the philosophy of mind, but with a number of entries that survey adjacent fields of interest. The book is introduced by the editor's substantial Essay on the Philosophy of Mind which serves as an overview of the subject, and is closely referenced to the entries in the Companion. Among the entries themselves are several "self-profiles" by leading philosophers in the field, including Chomsky, Davidson, Dennett, Dretske, Fodor, Lewis, Searle and Stalnaker, in which their own positions within the subject are articulated. In some more complex areas, more than one author has been invited to write on the same topic, giving a polarity of viewpoints within the book's overall coverage. All main entries have a full bibliography, and the book is indexed to the high standards set by other volumes in the Blackwell Companions to Philosophy series.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Ethics offers the definitive guide to this key area of contemporary philosophy. Covering all the fundamental questions asked by meta-ethics and normative ethical theory, thirteen specially commissioned chapters from an international team of experts explore the central ideas, terms and case studies in the field, and new directions in ethics as a whole. Now available in paperback, the Companion to Ethics covers issues such as moral methodology, moral realism, ethical expressivism, constructivism and the error theory, morality and practical reason, moral psychology, morality and religion, consequentialism, Kantian ethics, virtue ethics, feminist ethics, moral particularism, experimental ethics, and biology, evolution and ethics. Featuring a series of indispensable research tools, including key technical terms, a historical chronology, a detailed list of internet resources for research in ethics, and a thorough list of recommended works for further study, this is the essential resource for anyone studying, researching and writing in contemporary philosophical ethics.

A philosophical inquiry into the strengths and weaknesses of theism and naturalism in accounting for the emergence of consciousness, the visual imagination and aesthetic values. The authors begin by offering an account of modern scientific practice which gives a central place to the visual imagination and aesthetic values. They then move to test the explanatory power of naturalism and theism in accounting for consciousness and the very visual imagination and aesthetic values that lie behind and define modern science. Taliaferro and Evans argue that evolutionary biology alone is insufficient to account for consciousness, the visual imagination and aesthetic values. Insofar as naturalism is compelled to go beyond evolutionary biology, it does not fare as well as theism in terms of explanatory power.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism is the definitive guide to this key area of modern European philosophy. Now available in paperback, the book covers the fundamental questions asked by existentialism, providing valuable guidance for students and researchers to some of the many important and enduring contributions of existentialist thinkers. Chapters from an international team of experts explore existentialism's relationship to philosophical method; ontology; politics; psychoanalysis; ethics; religion; literature; emotion; feminism and sexuality; emotions; authenticity and the self; its significance in Latin American culture; and its contribution to the development of post-structuralism and cognitive science. In addition, five short chapters summarize the status of canonical figures Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir, delineating the historical approach to their work, while pointing to new directions contemporary research is now taking. Featuring a series of indispensable research tools such as an A to Z glossary, a timeline of key events, texts and thinkers in existentialism, a list of resources, and an annotated guide to further reading, this Companion is an essential resource to help the new reader navigate through the heart of Existentialism and modern European philosophy.

David Hume (1711-1776), philosopher, historian, and essayist, is widely considered to be Britain's greatest philosopher.One of the leading intellectual figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, his major works and central ideas, especially his radical empiricism and his critique of the pretensions of philosophical rationalism, remain hugely influential on contemporary philosophers. This comprehensive and accessible guide to Hume's life and work includes 21 specially commissioned essays, written by a team of leading experts, covering every aspect of Hume's thought. The Companion presents details of Hume's life, historical and philosophical context, a comprehensive overview of all the key themes and topics apparent in his work, including his accounts of causal reasoning, scepticism, the soul and the self, action, reason, free will, miracles, natural religion, politics, human nature, women, economics and history, and an account of his reception and enduring influence. This is an essential reference tool for anyone working in the fields of Hume Studies and Eighteenth-Century Philosophy.

Including over 500 specially commissioned entries from a team of leading international scholars, this is an essential reference to Kant's thought, writings and continuing influence.

The Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic offers the definitive guide to a key area of contemporary philosophy. The book covers all the fundamental areas of philosophical logic - topics that have continued to attract interest historically as well as topics that have emerged more recently as active areas of research. Seventeen specially commissioned essays from an international team of experts reveal where important work continues to be done in the area and, most valuably, the exciting new directions the field is taking. The Companion explores issues pertaining to classical logic and its rivals, extensional and intensional extensions of classical logic, semantics for parts of natural language, and the application of logic in the theory of rationality. Crucially the emphasis is on the role that logic plays in understanding philosophical problems. Featuring a series of indispensable research tools, including an A to Z of key terms and concepts, a detailed list of resources, a bibliography and a companion website, this is the essential reference tool for anyone working in contemporary philosophical logic.

The book contains popular expositions (accessible to readers with no more than a high school mathematics background) on the mathematical theory of infinity, and a number of related topics. These include G?del's incompleteness theorems and their relationship to concepts of artificial intelligence and the human mind, as well as the conceivability of some unconventional cosmological models. The material is approached from a variety of viewpoints, some more conventionally mathematical and others being nearly mystical. There is a brief account of the author's personal contact with Kurt G?del.An appendix contains one of the few popular expositions on set theory research on what are known as "strong axioms of infinity."