The Temporal Mind: A Philosophical Introduction

Memories, sensory experiences, expectations, and intentions, as well as thoughts, fears, and hopes: all share a fundamental trait, the fact that our conscious psychological states take place in time, and often are about time in some way or other. Temporality is an inescapable feature of the mind which has preoccupied philosophers and psychologists in diverse traditions such as Locke, Hume, Reid, Kant, Helmholtz, James, Husserl, Broad, and Bergson.

The Temporal Mind: A Philosophical Introduction is the first book to offer a detailed critical survey of recent work on the perception of time and the temporal features of the mind. Philippe Chuard introduces some of the central topics in contemporary discussions of the temporal mind and the perception of time:

• how psychological states occur in time and convey temporal information
• the stream of consciousness, duration, and how short conscious experiences may be
• the continuity and unity of conscious experience
• how sensory perception in particular can represent the timing of perceived events
• the debate between extensionalism, retentionalism, and the snapshot conception of temporal experiences, as well as between temporal holism and atomism
• temporal illusions (such as the flash-lag effect) and what they reveal about temporal representation
• temporality in neuroscience and neuroscientific explanations of perception

Including additional features such as suggested further readings sections and a glossary, The Temporal Mind is an ideal starting point for any student in philosophy of mind and perception, and cognate fields in psychology and cognitive science.

Philippe Chuard is Associate Professor of Philosophy at SMU in Dallas, USA.