Abstract

Materialism does not function in philosophy simply as a popular metaphysical thesis about the nature of the world; it is also often put forward as a solution to some alleged problem involving the relation between mind and body. Galen Strawson is a professed materialist, but it is a defining theme of his book that materialism, as presently understood, cannot serve in this latter function: not only does it not solve the mind-body problem, it exacerbates it. Not that Strawson’s purpose is to offer some alternative solution to the problem; rather, much of his book is best seen as an example of how a traditional philosopher of mind might practice his trade once the mind-body problem is set aside because of its difficulty.