Mind, Matter, and the Explanatory Gap — Dualism, Physicalism, and the Limits of Classical Science | Chapter 4 of Then I Am Myself the World
Mind, Matter, and the Explanatory Gap — Dualism, Physicalism, and the Limits of Classical Science | Chapter 4 of Then I Am Myself the World Chapter 4 of Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It by Christof Koch examines one of the oldest and most perplexing questions in philosophy and neuroscience: How can subjective experience arise from physical matter? This chapter traces the history of mind-body theories, critiques the limits of traditional physicalism, and opens the door to alternative metaphysical possibilities. For a guided explanation of these concepts, the full chapter summary video is embedded below. Here is the book cover associated with this chapter: From Cartesian Dualism to Contemporary Physicalism Koch begins by revisiting the classic split introduced by René Descartes , who proposed that mind ( res cogitans ) and matter ( res extensa ) are fundamentally different substances. Dualism dominated early scientific thought, but as ph...