Death of the Soul: From Descartes to the Computer

Traces the development of philosophical thought from the seventeenth century to today, and explores why questions of the soul figure so little in the minds of present-day technocratic intellectuals

Ever since Descartes saw nature as a vast, interlocking machine and science banished the soul, philosophers have been uncomfortable with this materialistic outlook. Barrett (Irrational Man here looks at the way in which various thinkers have attempted to put the human soul or self in the forefront of their visions of reality. He discusses Leibniz's energized universe of monads, or individual souls, Hegel's blueprint for self-realization as part of the unfolding of the "world spirit" and the existentialists' belief that anxiety and death are personal problems each of us must wrestle with. Unconvinced by modern descriptions of the mind as a computer, Barrett debunks Alan Turing's claim that a future computer could write first-rate poetry; he also refutes behaviorism and Wittgenstein. This short book engages the reader in an open-ended dialogue with major Western thinkers on the central questions of the soul, death and consciousness.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Barrett's previous popular work, Irrational Man, remains one of the clearest expositions of existentialist philosophy available. In this new book, he focuses on the philosophical puzzles of metaphysics and epistemology. Taking the reader on a historical journey, he discusses the attempts of philosophers to answer one of humanity's central questions: Does the human soul exist? Chapters on Kant are excellent; the concluding chapter, "Analytic Philosophy and the Computer," is a brilliant summary of Barrett's argument for the existence of "mind" in a world dominated by the doctrines of reductionism and scientific materialism. Highly recommended for beginning students of philosophy and for interested laypeople. Raymond Frey, Philosophy & Religion Dept., Montclair State Coll., Upper Montclair, N.J.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.