What Is a Mind?

Reviews the book Natural Minds (see record 2004-12252-000) by Thomas W. Polger. Identity theory proposed that conscious states such as sensations are strictly identical to brain states in the sense that lightning is strictly identical to electrical discharge: They are two names for the same thing (Smart, 1962). Although identity theory was soon displaced in philosophy of mind by the mind-brain theory of functionalism, Polger's book bids to resurrect it in a new form. Unfortunately, Polger's book is difficult to recommend to psychologists. In this review, the reviewer summarizes Polger's ideas as they might interest psychologists (especially in cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience) and comments on a few of the difficulties he sees for Polger's revised identity theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)