Descartes made a sharp distinction between matter and mind. But he also thought that the two interact with one another. Is such interaction possible, however, without either a materialist reduction of mind to matter or an idealist (phenomenalist) reduction of matter to mind? These questions overshadow the Western tradition in metaphysics from the time of Descartes to present times.
The book makes an effort to stay clear of reductivist views of the two Cartesian substances. It defends a dualistic psycho-physical parallel theory which reconciles freedom of action with determinism in...

"Explanation and Understanding, perhaps von Wright's best-known book, showed the influence of Wittgenstein, but marked a clean break with the positivism of his youth. He suggested that human action could not be explained causally by scientific or 'natural' laws, but had to be understood 'intentionally' a concept connected with wants and beliefs developed in a social and cultural context." Daily Telegraph"This is a very good book packed with much original material; it also contains illuminating reinterpretations of some familiar theories and arguments. The range of topics treated includes...

A glimpse inside one of the world's greatest philosophical minds

Ludwig Wittgenstein is considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. While much of the notes written during his most productive years were destroyed, several remain; Notebooks 1914-1916 is comprised of a particular set of personal notes from the period during which he wrote Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, detailing his thoughts and ideas during a critical period in his life. Published with Wittgenstein's native German parallel to the English translation, this new second edition includes...

This first volume of Wittgenstein's Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology was written between October 1948 and March 1949, when the philosopher had moved to Dublin and was having one of his most fruitful working periods. He then finished work which he had begun in 1946 and which in its entirety constitutes the source material for Part II of the "Philosophical Investigations." When, later in 1949, Wittgenstein composed the manuscript for Part II he selected more than half the remarks for it from the Dublin manuscript.

Although this material is a direct continuation of the...

For the last 25 years, since publication of his Logical Studies, Professor Von Wright has steadily explored the field of philosophical logic. The concept of negation, logical paradoxes, the puzzles connected with evidence and probability in confirmation theory, the interrelatedness of the ideas of time and change, and the clarification of the structure of temporal and spatial orderings are among the many areas he has profitably investigated.