Mark Bickhard proposes a new metaphysical model in his latest book, The Whole Person
The history of science is a story of how humans see the world and the continual reassessment of our assumptions about our place in it. There has been a metaphysical divide for centuries between the natural world and the domain of the mind. Theoretical psychologist Mark Bickhard argues that there are essential relationships between the two. His latest book presents a model to understand how minds emerge from, yet remain connected with, the world of facts. He proposes a new model of metaphysics that shifts this understanding from a framework of substance to one of process that enables an integrated account of the appearance of normative phenomena.
Bickhard, who holds appointments in the departments of philosophy and psychology, explores the spaces of theory and philosophy concerning minds and persons. His book, The Whole Person: Toward a Naturalism of Minds and Persons, focuses on the evolutionary and developmental occurrence of normative phenomena out of prior forms of process and proposes models of, among other phenomena, biological function, representation, and other cognitive issues.
Spotlight Recipient
Mark Bickhard
Henry R. Luce Professor of Cognitive Robotics and the Philosophy of Knowledge