Descartes's Theory of Mind

Descartes's Theory of Mind
by Desmond Clarke

# Paperback: 280 pages
# Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition (November 3, 2005)

"Descartes' scientific ambitions were, to be sure, a crucial part of his philosophical project, and Clarke's careful and persuasive exploration of them provides an important addition to the literature." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"In this book Clarke offers an interesting spin on Descartes: rather than see him (as many do) simply as a substance dualist who offers a very poor account of the mind, Clarke sees him as a scientist pushing scientific explanation of the mind as far as it will go, and only exiting the path as a
substance dualist when explanation has reached its limits. ... Clarke is much to be commended for this reorientation of the bigger picture; but this book is even more to be commended for its detailed and thorough account of the various elements of Descartes's theory of mind. In being nearly a
compendium of Descartes's views about various mental phenomena...Clarke's book will be of interest to scholar and novice alike."--The Review of Metaphysics


Book Description
Descartes is possibly the most famous of all writers on the mind, but his theory of mind has been almost universally misunderstood, because his philosophy has not been seen in the context of his scientific work. Desmond Clarke offers a radical and convincing rereading, undoing the received
perception of Descartes as the chief defender of mind/body dualism. For Clarke, the key is to interpret his philosophical efforts as an attempt to reconcile his scientific pursuits with the theologically orthodox views of his time.

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How Images Think by Ron Burnett

How Images Think
by Ron Burnett


# Paperback: 275 pages
# Publisher: The MIT Press; New Ed edition (April 1, 2005)

Review
"I tried to think of a witty play on 'Every picture tells a thousand words,' but then the whole word/picture thing collapsed on me. Burnett really marries the two together. This book is actually billions of pictures in disguise. Required reading in these accelerating times."
--Douglas Coupland, novelist and visual artist

"This is a brilliant book that makes a much-needed contribution to new media research and cultural theory, written with great clarity and visionary purpose."
--Janine Marchessault, Associate Professor of Film Studies, York University

"How Images Think maps afresh the territory of how we engage with new media. Burnett challenges us to rethink our interpretation of the changing mediascape in which images are used as the main form of interaction and communication. It is crucial reading for those interested in understanding the relationships we have with the images that surround us."
--Ilana Snyder, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Monash University

"This insightful investigation of how digital--and other--images modify, if not rule, the way we think is urgent reading for those among us who spend more than half their lives glued to one screen or another (TV, computer, PDA, cellphone, etc). That is, most of us."
--Derrick de Kerckhove, Director, McLuhan Program in Culture & Technology, University of Toronto

Book Description
Digital images are an integral part of all media, including television, film, photography, animation, video games, data visualization, and the Internet. In the digital world, spectators become navigators wending their way through a variety of interactive experiences, and images become spaces of visualization with more and more intelligence programmed into the very fabric of communication processes. In How Images Think, Ron Burnett explores this new ecology, which has transformed the relationships humans have with the image-based technologies they have created. So much intelligence has been programmed into these image-dependent technologies that it often seems as if images are "thinking"; ascribing thought to machines redefines our relationship with them and enlarges our ideas about body and mind. Burnett argues that the development of this new, closely interdependent relationship marks a turning point in our understanding of the connections between humans and machines.

After presenting an overview of visual perception, Burnett examines the interactive modes of new technologies -- including computer games, virtual reality, digital photography, and film -- and locates digital images in a historical context. He argues that virtual images occupy a "middle space," combining the virtual and the real into an environment of visualization that blurs the distinctions between subject and object -- part of a continuum of experiences generated by creative choices by viewers, the results of which cannot be attributed either to images or to participants.

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