The concept of the soul is accepted in many religious traditions and
widely used in fictional worlds, and yet the idea that we are anything
more than physio-chemical organisms seems out of step with contemporary
secular thinking. Scratch the surface of western philosophy, however,
and you find a history filled with arguments in favour of the idea that
we are embodied souls. This book provides a clear and concise history of
the soul, from Plato to cutting-edge contemporary work in philosophy of
mind. Taking in the arguments of influential thinkers, such as
Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, and Hume, Goetz and Taliaferro tackle
keys issues, such as the problem of mind-body interaction, the causal
closure of the physical world, and the philosophical implications of the
brain sciences for the soul's existence. A Brief History of the Soul
brings together historical and contemporary scholarship to examine one
of the essential questions of our existence.
Stewart Goetz is Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in
Philosophy and Religion at Ursinus College. He has written extensively
on the philosophy of mind and action theory and his books include
Freedom, Teleology, and Evil (2008), Naturalism (with Charles
Taliaferro, 2008), and The Soul Hypothesis (edited with Mark Baker,
2011). Charles Taliaferro is Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf
College. He is on the editorial board of the American Philosophical
Quarterly, Religious Studies, Sophia, and Philosophy Compass. His
books include Consciousness and the Mind of God (1994, 2004),
Naturalism (with Stewart Goetz, 2008), A Companion to Philosophy of
Religion, 2nd edition (edited with Paul Draper, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010),
and The Image in Mind (with Jil Evans, 2010).
