Thinking as Being in the History of Philosophy

This volume is the first to assemble a wide-ranging body of research on the history of a certain pattern of theorizing about cognizing as a kind of being, or even being itself. As such, it addresses a notable silence in contemporary scholarship about the mind, and even about the history of philosophy of mind, which stands in contrast with its appearances throughout the historical tradition of philosophy. This book therefore enhances with historical richness the growing interest in related concepts such as idealism and pansychism. The original research presented in the book advances our understanding of the philosophical richness of various concepts of “cognizing as being” and draws on both Western and non-Western philosophical traditions. In doing so the books fosters a dialogue among these interconnected philosophical traditions that includes Indian philosophy, Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions, medieval Latin and Islamic traditions, Renaissance and early modern Platonism, varieties of early modern panpsychism or pannoeticism, German idealism, and early phenomenology. By bringing these together these collected works provide an illustrative model that will help scholars “see” a long-overlooked insight about mind across various historical traditions, and spark new ideas about how this approach might manifest in unexpected places. This volume is of interest to scholars working in the history of philosophy, the philosophy of mind and ancient philosophy.