Regardless of whether or not you have a strong view on the central question addressed in this book - namely, the adequacy or otherwise of reductive materialism as an explanation for mental phenomena - there is no doubt that it is a compelling read. Anyone interested in this topic, or indeed the relationship between science and philosophy more generally, will find 'Mind and Cosmos' very rewarding. As always, Nagel's style is highly accessible and presents few obstacles to the non-specialist reader.
That said, I was surprised by some aspects of Nagel's analysis. The early chapters lead one to expect that he is going to present a withering critique of materialism. However, if this was his intention, the book does not really deliver the goods. In fact, rather unusually for those who choose to attack materialism head-on, he devotes surprisingly little space to setting out a critique of physical reductionism. Instead, his approach seems to be to take the inadequacy of the materialist world view as a given, almost as though it were an unspoken assumption he can safely expect his readers to share. To state, as he does, that materialism has a 'negligible likelihood' of being true sounds eloquent, but is not, in itself, a persuasive rebuttal. This somewhat undermines Nagel's attempt, in the second half of the book, to sketch out the outlines of a possible 'naturalistic' alternative to both dualism and physical materialism. For, unless it is clear that materialism is false in at least some respects, the need for an alternative is not self-evident.
Moreover, Nagel's claim that any such naturalistic alternative would require a radical breakthrough in our conceptual understanding of the relationship between mind and the physical world also seems incorrect. There has always been an alternative to materialism and idealism - it is called monism, and it is expressed in classic form in the writings of Baruch Spinoza. But Spinoza was unequivocal in rejecting teleology, and this seems more plausible to me than Nagel's attempt to locate a form of natural teleology in a Godless universe that allegedly has no goals or objective moral values. To say of 'God or Nature' that it is entirely self-contained, and the most powerful and valuable thing that can possibly exist, is not the same thing as saying that it has goals or purposes. After all, if the cosmos has an unconstrained power to give rise to everything that could possibly exist, it is unclear why it would need to set itself external, time-dependent goals; it will deliver infinite diversity timelessly. So it is perfectly consistent to maintain, on the one hand, that the universe must have the potential to give rise to human consciousness, while at the same time denying that this is a goal Nature sets for itself. I would have found the second half of 'Mind and Cosmos' more interesting if Nagel had acknowledged this possibility and explored its implications more fully, since it clearly has a crucial bearing on the question of whether teleology is required to explain the phenomenon of mind, consciousness, and other manifestations of organised complexity.
Still, the fact that Nagel is raising these issues, and stimulating the range of responses found in these and other reviews, itself justifies the price of the book.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start againPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
Gregory Nixon
Against Neo-Darwinism and Mechanistic, Reductive Materialism
Reviewed in Canada on 18 August 2020
Ryan S Ashton
A Philosopher Refuses to Lose His Mind
Reviewed in the United States on 21 February 2013