First published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Curriculum of the Future From the 'New Sociology of Education' to a Critical Theory of Learning

McCulloch, Gregory

Ashgate Publishing Limited

Taylor & Francis Group

Taylor & Francis Ltd

Gower Publishing Ltd

Taylor and Francis

Taylor & Francis (Unlimited), London, 1995

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

Problems of Philosophy, 2002

1, 20020911

Ever since Descartes made his sharp distinction between the mind and the body, the idea that the mind is essentially separable from the world and even from the body it inhabits has exerted an enormous influence on philosophy, psychology, cognitive science and artificial intelligence: the mind, the argument runs, is 'in the head'.
In The Mind and Its World, Gregory McCulloch argues that this claim is in fact untenable. Tracing the history of the idea from Descartes through Locke, Frege and Wittgenstein to behaviourism and contemporary forms of Cartesianism, he demonstrates that the philosophy of mind has yet to resolve many of the problems arising from its adoption and adaptation of Descartes' position.
McCulloch argues that these issues can only be resolved through a non-Cartesian approach, and in the second part of this book he develops such an alternative. The resulting position is externalist and holds that the mind is separable neither from the body nor from the environment in which this body lives.
The Mind and Its World provides a clear and accessible introduction to a cluster of contemporary controversies in the philosophy of mind and language. Written mainly for students with no previous knowledge of the subject, it will also make stimulating reading for specialists in the field.

First published in 1995. Since Descartes, the mind has been thought to be `in the head', separable from the world and even from the body it inhabits. Gregory McCulloch, in The MInd and its World, considers the latest debates in philosophy and cognitive science about whether the thinking subject actually requires an environment in order to be able to think. McCulloch explores the argument from Descartes, through Locke, Frege and Wittgenstein up to the present day. He then offers an original defence of his own version of externalism - that the mind is constituted by the objectw which are its phenomena. The Mind and its World provides a clear and accessible introduction to a cluster of contemporary controversies in the area of the philosophy of mind and language. It is designed to be read by students with no previous knowledge of the issues, but will also be of interest to specialists in the field.

2025-07-14