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From Substances to Processes: Rethinking Minds, Norms, and Reality

Mark Bickhard, Henry R. Luce Professor of Cognitive Robotics and the Philosophy of Knowledge, challenges traditional metaphysical frameworks in his latest book, The Whole Person: Toward a Naturalism of Minds and Persons. Bickhard critiques the historical divide between the material world and mental phenomena, rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, and argues for a shift from substance-based metaphysics to process metaphysics. His model, called interactivism, emphasizes the evolutionary and developmental emergence of normative phenomena—such as representation, cognition, and language—through dynamic interactions, rather than static structures or substances.
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Xavier Piccone philosophy major at Lehigh University

A Carbon-Based Democracy

Xavier Piccone ’24, philosophy major with a minor in anthropology, studies an energy infrastructure and its impact on political and economic systems.
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Martin Heidegger

Heidegger and Being

Assistant Professor, Filippo Casati, examines Marin Heidegger's later work and defends an alternate interpretation of his wrestle with the notion of Being.