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Recovering the Soul

Aquinas’s and Spinoza’s Surprising and Helpful Affinity on the Nature of Mind-Body Unity

By: G. Stephen Blakemore

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Recovering the Soul

Aquinas’s and Spinoza’s Surprising and Helpful Affinity on the Nature of Mind-Body Unity

By: G. Stephen Blakemore

Recovering the Soul explores an area of historical philosophy that few if any others have attempted by critically comparing the metaphysical doctrines of Thomas Aquinas and Baruch Spinoza on the identity of mind and body. The central premise is that the hylomorphism of Aquinas's understanding of soul and body has a surprising affinity with Spinoza's own understanding of how human beings are enabled to exist as a single entity that is both mind and body. In the process of making the case that hylomorphism can apply to Spinoza's philosophy as much as Aquinas's, the book carefully exegetes the work of each philosopher and indicates how each is internally consistent within his own system of thought. The hylomorphic reading of Spinoza helps to address some interpretive challenges that his commentators have noted and struggled to harmonize with other aspects of this monist ontology. Beyond the historical and interpretive interests the book addresses, it also makes the case that hylomorphism as a metaphysical theory of human constitution best harmonizes with contemporary studies in the human genome and provides a more comprehensive starting point for the philosophy of mind than reductionism or substance dualism.

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Page Count

294

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1532698143

ISBN 13

9781532698149

Recovering the Soul

Aquinas's and Spinoza's Surprising and Helpful Affinity on the Nature of Mind-Body Unity

By: G. Stephen Blakemore

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Recovering the Soul

Aquinas's and Spinoza's Surprising and Helpful Affinity on the Nature of Mind-Body Unity

By: G. Stephen Blakemore

Recovering the Soul explores an area of historical philosophy that few if any others have attempted by critically comparing the metaphysical doctrines of Thomas Aquinas and Baruch Spinoza on the identity of mind and body. The central premise is that the hylomorphism of Aquinas’s understanding of soul and body has a surprising affinity with Spinoza’s own understanding of how human beings are enabled to exist as a single entity that is both mind and body. In the process of making the case that hylomorphism can apply to Spinoza’s philosophy as much as Aquinas’s, the book carefully exegetes the work of each philosopher and indicates how each is internally consistent within his own system of thought. The hylomorphic reading of Spinoza helps to address some interpretive challenges that his commentators have noted and struggled to harmonize with other aspects of this monist ontology. Beyond the historical and interpretive interests the book addresses, it also makes the case that hylomorphism as a metaphysical theory of human constitution best harmonizes with contemporary studies in the human genome and provides a more comprehensive starting point for the philosophy of mind than reductionism or substance dualism.

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Page Count

261

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1532698127

ISBN 13

9781532698125