The Analysis of Mind by Bertrand Russell | Intersection of Psychology and Physics, Perspectives on Mind and Matter Paperback – 23 September 2022

The book is written in so easy language so that everyone can understand it... It fills your quest.

I was drawn to this book because the author skillfully acknowledged the materialistic stance of behaviorist psychologists in the preface, while also expressing an understanding for the more metaphysical elements of physics. This intriguing fusion of concepts captivated me and offered a novel outlook on these fields of study.

Being a science student I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an engaging exploration of the intersection between psychology and physics, offering thought-provoking insights that challenge conventional boundaries.

With 'The Analysis of Mind,' Bertrand Russell offers a timeless examination of the mind's inner workings. This book's enduring relevance lies in its ability to provoke thought and encourage ongoing contemplation about the mysteries of human cognition."

This book brings us a totally different genre of human mind. The book brings us a new kind of thoughts where we understand the philosophy of human thinking in a better way. Absolutely loved the concept. Will recommend this book to all.

Psychology as a science, they say, is only concerned with behaviour, i.e. with what we do; this alone, they contend, can be accurately observed. Whether we think meanwhile, they tell us, cannot be known

A well crafted book. The book describes about two different tendencies, one in psychology, the other in physics. One must read this book .

La letra de esta edición en tapa blanda es minúscula en exceso para una persona joven con buena vista. No quiero pensar para una persona mayor o con dificultad de visión. El contenido seguro es maravilloso, pero para leerlo en esta edición habría que usar lupa. Es una edición inservible para alguien que no quiera estar condicionado a leer su contenido a sorbitos. Una lástima.

This is a printout of a very strange copy of Russell's (fantastic) text. The text is set centred instead of left-justified, footnotes appear in the middle of a page, the text begins on the backside of the title page, there is no table of contents - short: there is no layout whatsoever and that makes the text very hard to work with.

This is Russell's book on Psychology. It is should be considered a pair with his later "Analysis of Matter" as both are about the relationship between Mind and Matter. This book draws heavily on James, Freud, Watson, Hume and others and presents a largely uncontroversial philosophy of mind. The middle chapters (they were lectures originally) go to great (aka dull) lengths to define such terms as "sensation", "memory", "feelings", and "habit". At the end and the beginning, Russell talks about his philosophy of Neutral Monism--the belief that both Mind and Matter are made up of the same (neutral) substance.Russell is always a good writer and this book contains much of his common-sense approach and logical exposition of arguments. However, it is not as well written as some of his other works, having neither the humor nor the quick pace of his best stuff, while not going deep like his more academic works.I read this book primarily because his Neutral Monism is often cited by Panpsychists as prior art arguing that "consciousness" is fundamental to the universe. Russell things sensation is fundamental to both Psychology and Physics. Psychology is the study of a single Mind's perspective on things in the world; whereas Physics is what is common to all perspectives. "Matter is a fiction," he says, which allows us to correlate Physics theories with things in the world. He hardly mentions Kant, but clearly, this is something like Kant's concept of experiences vs things-in-themselves. Since both Matter and Mind are defined in terms of Sensation, this leads Russell to his intuition that they are based on similar rules and thus made up of similar, neutral fundamental parts.One hundred years later, even with Quantum Theory giving Observers a special role, this definition of Matter seems suspect. Russell himself starts down the path of saying Matter is more fundamental than Mind, observing that Minds (Brains) are clearly made up from Matter (nerves, etc) whereas it is not clear that the reverse holds. But then in mid-argument he jumps to his definition of Matter as collections of perspectives. My understanding is that this Materialistic trend continued in later versions of Russell's theory.Regarding Panpsychism (which is not mentioned in this book), Russell talks about Consciousness and Subjectivity in his conclusion, but by my reading the modern Consciousness is closer to Russell's Subjectivity and his Consciousness is more like Active Attention. Using his definitions, Russell rejects rejects Consciousness as fundamental because it is too complex (has parts). However, he then goes on to say that "Subjectivity" is likely to be fundamental. In the end though he says his theory needs further development and awaits studies of the brain to support or refute his Neutral Monism. Clearly the debate is not over but I can't recommend reading "Analysis of Mind" for advancing the case except as a historical curiosity.

I chose this book too quickly on the phone for my kindle. I wanted a Bertrand Russell book. I consider myself a sophisticated reader, but this is a book of lectures,and does not lend itself well to the written word. I would not recommend it to the casual reader.