First published in 1969, The Elusive Mind argues that the mental processes are of a quite different nature from physical ones and belong to an entity which is elusive in the sense that it can only be known, in the first instance, by each person in his own case in the course of having any kind of experience. This ‘elusive’ self is much involved with the body in any conditions we know, but it could also survive the dissolution of the body. The views of thinkers like Ryle, Hampshire, Malcolm, Feigl, and Ayer are subjected to an exceptionally close and critical scrutiny. In presenting these views, the author offers us the substance of the first series of Gifford Lectures he delivered in the University of Edinburgh; and, in what he says on such topics as dreaming; mysticism; and the ‘I-Thou’ relation and on Christian Theology.
This book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of philosophy, philosophy of mind, ethics, and religion.