The Phenomenal Nature of Mind

Introducing the Phenomenal Theory of Mind, the author contends that mental states are fundamentally defined by how they subjectively appear to us when we undergo them. The book provides a rigorous defence of this framework, and offers fresh phenomenological characterisations of different mental state types. Furthermore, through a novel, two-layer taxonomy of the mind, the author demonstrates how complex intentional states like beliefs and desires, conceived of as active powers with a phenomenal character of their own, are metaphysically realised by raw feelings — specifically, the emotions. By establishing phenomenality as the definitive ”mark of the mental”, this work ultimately dismantles both the traditional notion of the unconscious and contemporary physicalist frameworks, setting the stage for the book’s culmination, where key claims are put to work to provide a powerful new defence of mind-body dualism.

Provocative and meticulously argued, The Phenomenal Nature of Mind, will appeal to researchers and advanced students working in the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, consciousness studies, and metaphysics.