A Brief History of the Soul

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 favor 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.

Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1 The Soul in Greek Thought. 2 The Soul in Medieval Christian Thought. 3 The Soul in Continental Thought. 4 The Soul in Locke, Butler, Reid, Hume, and Kant. 5 The Problem of Soul–Body Causal Interaction. 6 The Soul and Contemporary Science. 7 Contemporary Challenges to the Soul. 8 Thoughts on the Future of the Soul. Bibliography. Index.

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).

“Although they may well have their own agenda, Goetz and Taliaferro not only provide an extremely useful chronological account of how the concept of the soul developed, they also illuminate the questions it was meant to solve, and the way these are not yet satisfactorily laid to rest.”  ( Times Higher Education Supplement , 5 July 2012) "This is a courageous book: it takes up and defends a position to which the current intellectual climate it generally hostile, namely that human beings are embodied souls. The book′s very title throws down a challenge to the philosophical establishment. Nonetheless, even the most resolute enemies of dualism will welcome Stuart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro′s overview of historical and contemporary positions on the existence and nature of the soul." (Anthony Kenny, The Times Literary Supplement, December 16, 2011). "So the book remains firmly within orthodox philosophy and science, although within these limits it can be highly recommended." (Network Review, 1 June 2011)