The Phenomenal Nature of Mind by Demian Whiting

The Phenomenal Nature of Mind by Demian Whiting

Introducing the Phenomenal Theory of Mind, the author contends that mental states are fundamentally defined by how they subjectively appear to us when we undergo them. The book provides a rigorous defence of this framework, and offers fresh phenomenological characterisations of different mental state types. Furthermore, through a novel, two-layer taxonomy of the mind, the author demonstrates how complex intentional states like beliefs and desires, conceived of as active powers with a phenomenal character of their own, are metaphysically realised by raw feelings — specifically, the emotions. By establishing phenomenality as the definitive ”mark of the mental”, this work ultimately dismantles both the traditional notion of the unconscious and contemporary physicalist frameworks, setting the stage for the book’s culmination, where key claims are put to work to provide a powerful new defence of mind-body dualism.

Provocative and meticulously argued, The Phenomenal Nature of Mind, will appeal to researchers and advanced students working in the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, consciousness studies, and metaphysics.

Does the mind exist outside of consciousness? In The Phenomenal Nature of Mind, Demian Whiting defends the bold and uncompromising view that mentality is fundamentally phenomenal in nature and thus that there’s no such thing as the unconscious mindEssential reading for anyone interested in alternatives to physicalism.

--Amy Kind, Department of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

Philosophy goes in cycles and old ideas resurface in new guises, opening new vistas on problems of current concern. Professor Whiting recasts the view that consciousness is built upon “pure sensations” in his The Phenomenal Nature of Mind, generating a highly engaging and challenging defence of dualism.

--William Seager, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto

Demian Whiting is a Senior Lecturer based at the University of Hull. His research interests include philosophy of mind (consciousness, emotion, mind-body dualism), moral psychology, and various issues within applied ethics. He is the author of Emotions as Original Existences: A Theory of Emotion, Motivation, and the Self (Palgrave McMillan)