Arehumanbeingspurelymaterialcreatures,oristheresomethingelsetothem,animmaterialpartthatdoessome(orall)ofthethinking,andmightevenbeabletooutlivethedeathofthebody?Thisbookisabouthowaseriesofseventeenth-centuryphilosopherstriedtoanswerthatquestion.ItbeginsbylookingattheviewsofThomasHobbes,whodevelopedathoroughlymaterialistaccountofthehumanmind,andlaterofGodaswell.ThisisinobviouscontrasttotheapproachofhiscontemporaryRen矇Descartes.AfterexaminingHobbes’smaterialism,StewartDuncanconsiderstheviewsofthreeofhisEnglishcritics:HenryMore,RalphCudworth,andMargaretCavendish.BothMoreandCudworththoughtHobbes’smaterialismradicallyinadequatetoexplaintheworkingsoftheworld,whileCavendishdevelopedadistinctive,anti-Hobbesianmaterialismofherown.ThesecondhalfofthebookfocusesonthediscussionofmaterialisminJohnLocke’sEssayconcerningHumanUnderstanding,arguingthatwecanbetterunderstandLocke’sdiscussionifweseehowandwhereheisrespondingtothisearlierdebate.AtcrucialpointsLockedrawsonMoreandCudworthtoargueagainstHobbesandothermaterialists.Nevertheless,Lockedidagooddealtorevealhowmaterialismwasagenuinelypossibleview,byshowinghowonecoulddevelopadetailedaccountofthehumanmindwithoutpresumingitwasanimmaterialsubstance.Thisworkprobesthethoughtanddebatesthatoriginatedintheseventeenth-centuryyetextendedfarbeyondit.Anditoffersadistinctive,newunderstandingofLocke’sdiscussionofthehumanmind.
