This is a must for anyone who's in need of an adequate physicalist metaphysics for the mind. Kim's clarity invites even the not so technically trained young philosopher to consider the puzzles that arise when one is committed to an antireductionist stance on the nature of mentality. Aside from its excellent historical account of the mind-body problem since the Smart-Feigl central-state materialism, I think that the major contribution this book makes is precisely the confrontation of the possibility of us remaining antireductionists and still consistently claim that the mental is real, in the sense of its having autonomous causal potency.

If you believe, as many functionalists do, that mental properties (functional properties) could be understood as second-order properties defined in terms of the causal/nomic relations of its first-order realizers, please read this book!! You'll be surprised by how untidy the metaphysics of functionalism has been since its inception in the late sixties.

Kim once more has shown that his work is here to stay.

This book is great because after a great page you turn and get another, and another.... For the reader, an orgiastic feast of clear, insightful explanations of reductionism, the reigning non-reductive materialism, and dualism. Kim admittedly has no startlingly new theory which he hasn't expressed before, so the book is more of a textbook than a new thesis. But it simply overflows with illuminating presentations of the various aspects of the mind-body problem. And the argument that our only real choices are substance dualism and hardcore reductionism is excellent. Kim, no substance dualist, opts for reductionism. Non-reductive materialist functionalism, property dualism, anomalous monism - all these are either confusions or substance dualism in disguise. It gives us epiphenomenalist property dualists a kick in the rear. CORRECTION: I recently met Kim and asked him whether he was a reductionist, just to make sure. He said that people often misread him that way. Yes, he's saying there is a stark choice between dualism and reductionism, with no "non-reductive materialist" middle ground. But he's a dualist (actually, a property dualist, not a substance dualist).

Kim's proposal about reduction is persuasive. Since Nagelian Model of standard reduction collapsed, philosophers haven't dared to build up a new one. Now we have Kim's functional reduction.

But it is doubtable that his reduction can be applied to the case of consciousness. In his another book (Philosophy of Mind), he said that qualia problem is not captured by materialism and non-reductive materialism must meet the problem of downward causation or causal realism. Thus, he confessed that the two difficult problems are entangled: consciousness and mental causation.

This book can't solve that problem, but I'm expecting his next elaboration.

Anyway, in this book, he achieves new model of reduction through his original arguments! If his model is decisive, he has overcome the problem of functionalism vs. physicalism!

Overall, Kim's arguments are clear and easy to follow. But the debate about "generalization" (chapter 2 & 3) leaves a room for controversy.

This work has helped me immeasurably in my current research as well as past school work and research. From A to Z Kim and Sosa present literally hundreds of entries for the reader as well as great reference works to launch into further research. The only pitfall I can find to the book is the fact that it is built around an analytic philosophy (which comes forth in many of the entries). However, many of the continental philosophers and Medieval philosophers are covered. The authors include current trends in the realm of metaphysics and historical trends as well. This is a great starting point for the metaphysician. Moreover, it is a great reference tool that provides other avenues, via further reference, to ignite additional study.

With 264 entries from A to Z written by some of the world's leading philosophers, this encyclopedic Companion from Blackwell is an indispensible aid to students of philosophy in or out of the classroom. If you plan to do any reading in metaphysics, an investment in this volume will be handsomely repaid.

It's hard to comment on specifics since the entries themselves are so widely varied, so let me just recommend a companion volume: Michael Loux's _Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction_. (And _The Oxford Companion to Philosophy_, edited by Ted Honderich, is another keeper.)

The Blackwell "Companion" series is very good in general. See also _A Companion to Epistemology_, which is highly recommended too.

This anthology of Kim's papers is really fundamental to anyone willing to study the metaphysics of mind. There are also papers on causality, events and epistemology. However, the core of the book is the seminal work laid by Kim on supervenience and its relation to the mind-body problem.

I really cannot believe how can Kim manage to be at the same precise, technical and transparently clear. Some of the papers contained in here are already classics in the field. I have learned A LOT from Kim. I hope you benefit from his work as I have.

This book is the required text for the phil 325 course I am curently auditing at UIUC. It's professor is Jim Hardy at jimhardy@uiuc.edu

Kim, who's one the leading philosophers in the anglo-saxon philosophy world, has one the clearest, if not the clearest, intro to philosophy of mind. His explanations are sometimes too brief but very valuable to any philosophy student. The chapters cover the most important mind-body issues, some of which are still alive today. As opposed to what an unexperienced phiosophy reader wrote, Kim is not trying to turn man into a rock. If you want an excellent intro to phil. of mind, get this book. You might also want to check Rosenthal's collection of articles. These two should keep you very busy, at least for a good while.

Kim's work is the clearest introduction to major issues in the philosophy of mind in print. Much written in the field is convluted and Delphic in every aspect except length. This work is an excellent place to begin an examination. The chapters on functionialism are especially excellent.

Sosa and Kim's text is a guide through the most influential and provocative articles in philosophical epistemology. Provides a good background for issues regarding knowledge and skepticism, and includes classic essays as well as contemporary journal articles. Perfect for an introductory graduate level epistemology course.