ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers major figures and movements in ancient philosophy of mind. Some of the theories are over-broad and over-general in relation to more modern approaches to the mind, while remaining silent on crucial topics, such as intentionality, consciousness, and the nature of volition. Many early thinkers who touch on topics associated with mind have no conception of philosophy of mind as such. Their views on mind are part of the fabric of their explorations into psychology. As early philosophers start to weigh the relative merits of competing theories of mind, they also begin developing perspicuous taxonomies both of living things and of types of soul. Early philosophical theories that address the question of persistence of soul fall into two categories: these are 'mortalism' and 'immortalism.'.
