Audiobook · read by volunteers
Mind and the Brain
Alfred Binet (1857–1911)
Read by J. M. Smallheer, Carl Manchester, Accent, Kalynda, Anita Roy Dobbs, Leon Mire, Cynthia Zocca, Dale Curwin, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014), Gesine · 19 chapters · 6 h 49
About the book
Where does matter end, and where does the mind begin? Alfred Binet, the French psychologist, spent much of his career studying how people think, and in this book he turns to the oldest question of philosophy: whether mind and body are two distinct things. He begins by asking what we mean by matter and how we come to know external objects at all, and then follows the argument through mechanical theories, sensations and objections. The book is a sustained effort to establish a distinction between mind and matter, and Binet’s approach is both scientific and philosophical. This is the authorised English translation of his work L’âme et le corps. Nineteen recordings, nearly seven hours, for readers who enjoy a serious argument.
Introduction
Alfred Binet (1857-1911) was a French psychologist, best known for his pioneering work on the measurement of intelligence in children. The Mind and the Brain is the English version of his book L’âme et le corps, an authorised translation edited by F. Legge and published in 1907. It shows a different side of his work: his interest in the philosophical questions behind psychology.
The book sets out to establish a distinction between what we call mind and what we call matter. Binet notes that nothing is easier than to see this distinction if you do not look too closely, and nothing harder than to defend it once you do. He therefore begins with the definition of matter, examining how knowledge of external objects is derived from sensation, and why the mechanical theories of matter offer only symbols of what they describe. He then answers some objections and summarises his position.
Readers new to philosophy of mind may find this a good introduction to the debate as it stood at the beginning of the twentieth century. The vocabulary is of its time, but the questions are still alive.
The recording is by LibriVox volunteers and has nineteen files, with chapters arranged in books, running to about seven hours. It will interest those who study psychology, philosophy or the history of science, and anyone curious about how an eminent psychologist reasoned about consciousness.
Public domain
Alfred Binet died in 1911: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text