Immortal Souls

Immortal Souls provides as ambitious and complete a defense of Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophical anthropology as is currently in print. Among the many topics covered are the reality and unity of the self the immateriality of the intellect the freedom of the will the immortality of the soul the critique of artificial intelligence and the refutation of both Cartesian and materialist conceptions of human nature. Along the way the main rival positions in contemporary philosophy and science are thoroughly engaged with and rebutted.ReviewsEdward Feser's book is a Summa of the nature of the human person: it is therefore both a rather long - but brilliant - monograph and a valuable work for consultation. Each of the human faculties discussed is treated comprehensively with a broad range of theories considered for and against and although Feser's conclusions are firmly Thomistic one can derive great benefit from his discussions even if one is not a convinced hylomorphist. Every philosopher of mind would benefit from having this book within easy reach.Howard Robinson Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Central European UniversityFeser defends the Aristotelian and Thomistic system effectively bringing it into dialogue with recent debates and drawing on some of the best of both analytic (Kripke Searle BonJour Fodor) and phenomenological (Heidegger Merleau-Ponty Dreyfus) philosophy. He deftly rebuts objections to Thomism both ancient and modern. Anyone working today on personal identity the unity of the self the semantics of cognition free will or qualia will need to engage with the analysis and arguments presented here.Robert C. Koons Professor of Philosophy University of Texas at Austin.