Hume's Challenge and the Renewal of Modern Philosophy

An examination of the current state of philosophy, its origins and its possible future. Drawing on physics, evolution, linguistics, psychology and, in particular, the historic develoment of philosophical thought, Dewart's work offers profound and often disturbing insights on what it means to be a human being.

"Three hundred and fifty years after the death of René Descartes, the elementary issues raised by the founder of modern philosophy about the nature of the mental functions and activities of human organisms - or the 'mind,' as he thought of such functions - could not be said to have been resolved. Questions about the nature of consciousness are the prime example." Thus begins Leslie Dewart's exploration of the current state of philosophy, its origins and its possible future. Drawing on physics, evolution, linguistics, psychology, morality and in particular on the historic development of philosophical thought, Dewart's work offers profound and often disturbing insights in a "stunning and incisive analysis of what constitutes a human being. Political and social implications are rife as one reflects on exactly what the author is suggesting as our most fundamental responsibilities in a world where we are fully and engagingly conscious." [From the Foreword by Cajeten Menke]

Leslie Dewart was born in Madrid, Spain in 1922 and spent his formative years in Cuba. In 1942, he emigrated to Canada to join the RCAF, where he trained as a pilot and served on reconnaissance missions over the North Atlantic. After the war, Dewart became a Canadian citizen, and completed a PhD in philosophy at the University of Toronto, where he taught for more than 30 years. He published five previous books and contributed to numerous other books and scholarly periodicals. Leslie Dewart died in December, 2009 shortly after completing this book.