On the Contrary

Paul M. and Patricia S. Churchland are towering figures in the fields of philosophy,neuroscience, and consciousness. This collection was prepared in the belief that the most useful andrevealing of anyone's writings are often those shorter essays penned in conflict with or criticismof one's professional colleagues. The essays present the Churchlands' critical responses to avariety of philosophical positions advanced by some two dozen philosophical theorists. The book isdivided into three parts: part I, Folk Psychology and Eliminative Materialism; part II, Meaning,Qualia, and Emotion: The Several Dimensions of Consciousness; and part III, the Philosophy ofScience. V. S. Ramachandran and Rick Grush are coauthors on two of the essays.

Patricia Smith Churchland is Chair of the Philosophy Department and the UC President's Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute. She is past president of the American Philosophical Association and the Society for Philosophy and Psychology.