Review of István Aranyosi's The Peripheral Mind

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Title

The Journal of Mind and Behavior

Department

Philosophy

ISSN

0271-0137

Volume

35

Issue

3

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Abstract

The Peripheral Mind: Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System
Book Author: István Aranyosi. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2013, 256 pages, $60.00 hard cover.
Reviewed by Michael Madary, Universität Mainz

Much of the action and excitement in the philosophy of mind over the last couple of decades has been in a movement to look beyond the brain for locating and explaining mental states. This movement consists in a number of different claims. We have heard, for instance, that the mind extends into artifacts, and that the mind is brought forth or enacted or constituted by the active living body. In his recent book, The Peripheral Mind, István Aranyosi defends a neglected middle ground in the debate, a middle ground between the brain and the external world. Aranyosi urges that we take seriously the peripheral nervous system in our investigation into the mind. More specifically, the main thesis of his book is the peripheral mind hypothesis, which is that “Conscious mental states typically involved in sensory processes are partly constituted by subprocesses occurring at the level of the [peripheral nervous system]” (p. 22).

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