Skip to main content

Von Wright on the Mind-Body Problem

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Synthese Library ((SYLI,volume 282))

Abstract

Looking at the development of Professor von Wright’s philosophy, one could be surprised by the fact that, until very recently, he didn’t appear interested in the mind-body problem. In his “Intellectual Autobiography”, written in 1972–73, for example, von Wright writes — referring to his youthful interest in the mind-body problem and the other fundamental metaphysical questions about the nature of reality — that “strangely enough, this is an aerea in which, as an active philosopher I have (so far) done no work at all”.1

Materialism is the asymptote of psychology

G. Ch. Lichtenberg, Aphorismen

I am very grateful to Prifessor Rosaria Egidi, Professor Hilary Putnam and Professor G. H. von Wright who made very udeful comments on a previoud version of this paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  1. Alexander S.: Space, Time, and Deity,Macmillan, London. 1920.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Broad Ch. D.: The Mind and Its Place in Nature,Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. 1925.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Davidson D.: “Causal Relations”, The Journal of Philosophy, 64, pp. 691–703. Reprinted in Davidson 1980 a, pp. 149–62.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Davidson D.: “Mental Events”, in L. Foster and J. W. Swanson (eds.): Experience and Theory,University of Massachussetts Press, Amherts, pp. 79–101. Reprinted in Davidson 1980 a, pp. 207–27.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Davidson D.: “Essays on Actions and Events,Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Davidson D.: “The Myth of the Subjective”, in M. Benedikt and R. Burger (eds.): Bewußtsein, Sprache und die Kunst, Verlag der österreichischen Staatsdruckerei, Wien, pp. 45–54.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Davidson D.: “Epistemology Externalized”, Dialectica, 45, 1991, pp. 191–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Davidson D.: “Thinking Causes”, in Heil and Mele 1992, pp. 3–17.

    Google Scholar 

  9. ] De Caro M. (ed.): Interpretations and Causes. New Pespectives on Donald Davidson’s Philosophy, Kluwer, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Egidi R.: “Grounds for Acting, Grounds for Knowing”, in Meggle 1999, pp. 55–63. Gjelsvik 1996

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gjelsvik O.: “Von Wright on Mind and Matter”, in Meggle 1999, pp. 65–78.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Heil J. and Mele A. (eds.): Mental Causation,Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Huxley T. H.: Methods and Results: Essays,Appleton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kim J.: “The Myth of Nonreductive Materialism”, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association,63, pp. 31–47. Reprinted in Kim 1993, pp. 265–84.

    Google Scholar 

  15. ] Kim J.: “Can Supervenience and «Non-Strict Laws» Save Anomalous Monism?”, in Heil and Mele 1992, pp. 19–26.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kim J.: Supervenience and Mind, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kim J.: Philosophy of Mind,Westview Press, Boulder.

    Google Scholar 

  18. McLaughlin B.: “Epiphenomenalism”, in S. Guttenplan (ed.): A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 277–88.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Meggle G. (ed.): Actions, Norms, Values: Discussions with G. H. von Wright, W. de Gruyter, Berlin. Putnam 1994

    Google Scholar 

  20. Putnam H.: “Sense, Nonsense, and the Senses: An Inquiry into the Powers of the Human Mind”, Journal of Philosophy, 91, pp. 445–517.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Schilpp. P. A. and Hahn L. E.: The Philosophy of George Henrik von Wright, Open Court, La [Salle, Ill. Sosa 1992] Sosa E.: “Davidson’s Thinking Causes, in Heil and Mele 1992, pp. 41–50.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Von Wright G. H.: Explanation and Understanding, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. Von Wright 1973

    Google Scholar 

  23. Von Wright G. H.: Causality and Determinism, Columbia University Press, New York. Von Wright 1984

    Google Scholar 

  24. Von Wright G. H.: Preface to Libertà e determinazione Pratiche Editrice, Padova (Italian translation, by R. Simili, of Freedom and Determination, Acta Philosophica Fennica, Vol. 31, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Von Wright G. H.: “An Essay on Door-Knocking”, Rechtstheorie, 19, pp. 275–88. Reprinted in von Wright 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Von Wright G. H.: “Intellectual Autobiography”, in Schilpp and Hahn 1989, pp. 1–55. Von Wright 1994

    Google Scholar 

  27. Von Wright G. H.: ‘On Mind and Matter“, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 171, pp. 101–10. Reprinted in von Wright 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Von Wright G. H.: In the Shadow of Descartes: Essays in the Philosophy of Mind,Kluwer, Dordrecht. 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Wittgenstein L.: Zettel,ed. by G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright, Blackwell, Oxford. 1967.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

De Caro, M. (1999). Von Wright on the Mind-Body Problem. In: Egidi, R. (eds) In Search of a New Humanism. Synthese Library, vol 282. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1852-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1852-3_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5260-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1852-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics