Welcome to our conference, The Analysis of Mind Centenary: History & Future of Russellian Monism.
Our event will take place at McMaster University on June 6 — 7, 2022. Attendance at the conference is free and open to all. If you plan to attend, please fill out the form under the “registration” tab.
The conference organizers are Alexander Klein (McMaster) and Donovan Wishon (University of Mississippi). Organizational questions should be directed to project coordinator Hussein Karimjee (karimjeh@mcmaster.ca).
Bertrand Russell’s 1921 The Analysis of Mind marks his first, book-length presentation of a view he dubbed “neutral monism.” This is the view that reality is composed of one basic kind of stuff that is itself neither mental nor physical. For Russell, the mental and physical are more complex facts built out of this more basic stuff. Analysis of Mind combines metaphysical ideas along these lines from William James, the American new realists, and Ernst Mach, with more recent behaviorist work in psychology, presenting a scientifically-informed, metaphysical conception of the relation between mind and matter.
This is an event celebrating the centenary of Russell’s remarkable book (delayed by a year due to covid). As such some of our speakers will examine the historical context of this work. But Russell’s distinctive monism continues to inspire discussion in philosophy of mind and metaphysics today, so our conference will bring historians together with philosophers working on Russellian Monism, pointing the way these ideas might continue to be fruitfully developed in the future.
Please note that the Bertrand Russell Society will hold its annual meeting from June 3 — 5 at McMaster, as well, and we warmly encourage those who plan to attend one conference to consider attending the other as well.