ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I introduced the mind-body problem and discussed two philosophical answers to it. Another traditional answer holds that mental states are states of the brain. This view, which commonly goes by the names materialism and physicalism, can be traced back at least to Hobbes and was further developed by Gassendi and LaMettrie in the 17th and 18th centuries. Most contemporary philosophers and probably most cognitive scientists endorse materialism. Since the 1950s, however, philosophers have tried to state the thesis of materialism more precisely. As a result, they have developed a variety of different versions of materialism. I examine three contemporary versions in this chapter, each of which has a quite different set of consequences for cognitive science.
