Campbell's Body and Mind and the New Epiphenomenalism
In Body and Mind Keith Campbell investigates the Mind-Body problem in depth by first positioning its problematic status in the history of philosophy. His aim in the first chapter is to identify the problem, review the assumptions surrounding it, and to assert the universal significance of the problem. Next he introduces four incompatible propositions regarding its nature which he identifies as the inconsistent tetrad (15). Further Campbell finds it necessary to discuss in depth the concepts of Dualism, Behaviorism, Central-State Materialism, and Functionalism. Having dutifully presented this overview, Campbell is then free to discuss the centerpiece of his book, New Epiphenomenalism. New Epiphenomenalism is first differentiated from the Old Epiphenomenalism. Next it is interrelated to the problem of other minds, the problems of evolution and embryonic development. In commenting upon the current state of the Mind-Body problem, Campbell concludes that Central-State Materialism
offers the "simplest and least compromising view of the matter" (139). The Mind-Body question remains unclosed since it still must seek to more efficiently incorporate such disparate elements as mental objects (images and dreams), mental processes (suffering and pain) and mental descriptions with their intentionality within the folds of Materialism (139).
Body and Mind's greatest strength and weakness is Campbell's careful attempt at analyzing the Mind-Body problem with a painstaking craftsmanship. His manner of investigation is slow and thorough even as he labors to offer an innovative reading on one of philosophy's most enduring questions. His commitment to a comprehensive approach to the problem ensures that he will offer a multi-faceted reading discussing such divergent schools as the Behaviorists and Functionalist. It also provides for the work's sometimes jarring edges since Camp...