Mind-Body Philosophy

by Patrick Grim

Listening Length: 12 hours and 22 minutes

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.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Psychology, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biology, Education

13 pages, Audible Audio

Published January 6, 2017

About the author

Dr. Patrick Grim is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

He graduated with highest honors in anthropology and philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was named a Fulbright Fellow to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from which he earned his B.Phil. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Professor Grim is the recipient of several honors and awards. In addition to being named SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Grim has been awarded the President and Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and was elected to the Academy of Teachers and Scholars. The Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan in 2006, Professor Grim has also held visiting fellowships at the Center for Complex Systems at Michigan and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.

Professor Grim, author of The Incomplete Universe: Totality, Knowledge, and Truth; coauthor of The Philosophical Computer: Exploratory Essays in Philosophical Computer Modeling; and editor of the forthcoming Mind and Consciousness: 5 Questions, is widely published in scholarly journals. He is the founder and coeditor of 25 volumes of The Philosopher’s Annual, an anthology of the best articles published in philosophy each year.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good solid (although fairly introductory) overview of the history and current issues in understanding the mind and consciousness. This wasn't deeply technical or philosophical. It touched on all the major views throughout history, and presented some helpful thought experiments and research experiments (some I hadn't heard before). It got me thinking, which is always dangerous.

[Magen - Inquiring Professional Dog Trainer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook has a misleading title. This book is about consciousness and does delve into some interesting topics on how the mind works with or without the body, but ultimately, this is a philosophical discussion on what consciousness is and how we would measure it. It is an interesting conversation, but not exactly why I selected this audiobook.

[Lisa Butterworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

a superfast overview of various mind/body questions, lots of breadth, not a lot of depth

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grim is very well spoken and does an amazing job of keeping the lectures interesting. The full course was around 12 hours long, but that time just flew by because he is so interesting to listen to.

[Yaaresse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of 24 lectures (about 11 hours total listening time) looking a the question of consciousness through scientific and philosophical traditions/methods.

Unlike other Great Courses that I could play while doing something else, this one was challenging enough that it demanded my full attention. Dr. Grim moves through the lectures at a brisk pace and assumes a working knowledge of basics in psychology, philosophy, biology, history, and other disciplines.

Some lecture titles (picked at random among the 24) are:
Using the Body to Shape the Mind
History of the Soul
Altered States of Consciousness
Rival Psychologies of the Mind
The Enigma of Free Will
Can a Machine Have Consciousness?
A Guided Tour of the Brain
Thought Experiments against Materialism

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of the lecture series.

I found the lectures to be challenging at times, but very interesting. It would help to have some background in philosophy and brain biology before listening to this series, but not absolutely necessary.

The series is available for borrowing on Hoopla.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This covers a great gamut of thinkers. I think Grim does a fair service to counter acting the prevalent materialist paradigm by providing non-dual points of view. There are a number of interesting thought experiments and historical account of research in this area. Some times quite challenging to process and at times quite whimsical in its metaphors.

[Anita]

I listened to 5 of 24 lectures. I liked the first lectures on what the Mind-Body problem is and the basic categories of philosophies, but began to lose interest as it went deeper into the history. I plan to skim through a pdf of the course to see what may interest me and may revisit the audio of the lectures later.

[Davin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thought proviking

[S. Kallahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't as hokey as it sounds. It's not West Coast yogic pseudo-science, but researched theories on the relationship between mind and body.