Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics

That is to say: arguments to the effect that the holism of the mental is unscientific or that the mental is separated from the physical owing to holism are not sound. The holism of the mental fits into a world-view that bases itself on scientific realism. The addressees of this book are all those who care about our view of the world and ourselves in the spirit of an argumentative examination of different positions. No familiarity with physics is presupposed."A comparison between holism in the philosophy of mind and language and social holism, on the one hand, with holism about space-time and quantum physics on the other. The main claim is that holism in the humanities and holism in fundamental physics fall under the same substantial, general conception of holism. Arguments to the effect that the holism of the mental is unscientific, or that the mental is separated from the physical owing to holism are thus found to be unsound. The holism of the mental fits into a world-view based on scientific realism." "All those who care about our view of the world and ourselves can read this book, with its spirited and argumentative examination of different positions. No familiarity with physics is presupposed."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights ReservedEsfeld (U. of Konstanz, Germany, and U. of Hertfordshire, England) defines holism as the claim that a social, linguistic community is required for a person to have beliefs, and that single beliefs have a meaning only within a whole system of beliefs. In the second half of the 20th century, he notes, holism in quantum physics has refuted atomism, and in epistemology the philosophy of mind has refuted the Cartesian tradition, but no research has been done toward generating a critical overview of holism in general. He sets out to construct one that can be applied in any area, and uses that to investigate whether forms of holism in different areas have a common conceptual content. He finds two varieties, one for philosophy of mind and another for physics, and argues that either can expand to explain the other's phenomena, but they cannot themselves be resolved into a single form. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)