116 books
—
17 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Analysis of Mind” as Want to Read:
The Analysis of Mind
by
"A most brilliant essay in psychology."—New Statesman
"A delightful experience."—Joseph Conrad
Philosopher, mathematician and social critic, Bertrand Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. In The Analysis of Mind, one of his most influential and exciting books, Russell presents an intriguing reconciliation of the materialism of psychology with the ...more
"A delightful experience."—Joseph Conrad
Philosopher, mathematician and social critic, Bertrand Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. In The Analysis of Mind, one of his most influential and exciting books, Russell presents an intriguing reconciliation of the materialism of psychology with the ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
October 17th 2005
by Dover Publications
(first published 1921)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Analysis of Mind,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of The Analysis of Mind

When you drop a weight on your toe, and you say what you do say, the habit has been caused by imitation of your undesirable associates, whereas it is brought into play by the dropping of the weight.
It is a puzzle of our modern scientific worldview that we have been extremely successful in explaining things remote from our experience, and yet have made comparatively little headway in explaining our experience itself.
We begin with physics, the king of the sciences. Here we are dealing with ...more

Our understanding of the material world is a logical construction of a highly mathematical nature to explain our understanding of experience in regard to objects in the world. Psychology is also a theoretical construction of our experience. We often assume that the theoretical constructs of physics are prior to our theoretical constructs of mental life the idealist believes the reverse our the mind and its psychology is prior to the materialism of the world. Dualist claims both are independent
...more

A confusing book, originally a series of 15 lectures, in which analytic philosopher Bertrand Russell tries to do two things:
1. Establish his thesis of neutral monism, as applied to the mind.
2. Make his thesis plausible by incorporating all contemporary scientific theories within his framework.
As regards his neutral monism, Russell claims all psychic phenomena - from emotions, will and desire to thinking, reasoning and believing - are built up out of sensations and images alone. The ultimate ...more
1. Establish his thesis of neutral monism, as applied to the mind.
2. Make his thesis plausible by incorporating all contemporary scientific theories within his framework.
As regards his neutral monism, Russell claims all psychic phenomena - from emotions, will and desire to thinking, reasoning and believing - are built up out of sensations and images alone. The ultimate ...more

Brilliant book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and following it really made me think about the connection between mind (exemplified by psychology) and matter (exemplified by physics), and how Russell believes them to be made of the same neutral "stuff". The book made me really question and examine within a rational and logical perspective everything I have ever experienced. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the connection between mind and matter and the varying viewpoints of different
...more

This is an excellent book that, as it claims, works to reconcile physics with psychology. I only have two complaints: a.) as with anything written concerning psychology prior to the advent of neuroscience, some of the content is severely dated--the sections on memory and emotion, for instance, and b.) the length, coming in at about 190 pages, seems a bit sparse to justify its high-reaching goal. That is not to say that Russell fails here in his attempt, because I believe he succeeds
...more

Bertrand Russell. – Analyse de l’Esprit ; traduit de l’anglais par M. Lefèvre.
Ce livre, nous dit l’auteur, est né d’une tentative de concilier deux tendances différentes, celle de la psychologie qui devient de plus en plus dépendante de la physiologie, et celle de la physique qui, de son côté, rend la matière de moins en moins « matérielle ». On pourrait croire, à première vue, qu’il s’agit là d’un retour aux conceptions anciennes, dans lesquelles l’esprit et la matière n’étaient point ...more
Ce livre, nous dit l’auteur, est né d’une tentative de concilier deux tendances différentes, celle de la psychologie qui devient de plus en plus dépendante de la physiologie, et celle de la physique qui, de son côté, rend la matière de moins en moins « matérielle ». On pourrait croire, à première vue, qu’il s’agit là d’un retour aux conceptions anciennes, dans lesquelles l’esprit et la matière n’étaient point ...more

فکر میکنم بهتره سه کتاب مسائل فلسفه، علم ما به عالم خارج و تحلیل ذهن به ترتیب خونده بشن. هر چند که من به کتاب دوم دسترسی نداشتم و فقط یک فصلش رو که به صورت مجازی تهیه شده بودم خوندم ولی به نظر میومد که همون یک فصل لب مطلب رو ادا میکرد. در مسائل فلسفه تقریبا تمام مطالب تعارضی با فهم متعارف نداره و به سادگی قابل فهمه. در علم ما به عالم خارج راسل نظرش رو راجع به ماهیت ماده عوض کرده و در تحلیل ذهن به این نتیجه رسیده که تمایز عین و ذهن اونقدرها هم که به نظر میاد نیست و مایه اصلی اونها یکسانه.
...more

The first chapters are incredibly helpful in defining the causes of our behavior, instincts, habits, and desires. You can get a different perspective of your character and find patterns, whether good or bad, and, maybe, modify them. It is another view of one's Self, with simple concepts in a friendly writing.
The second half of the book may be tedious, but useful, as well, to those involved in the study of psyque.
In a sort of synthesis, Russell states that reality yields not in matter nor in ...more
The second half of the book may be tedious, but useful, as well, to those involved in the study of psyque.
In a sort of synthesis, Russell states that reality yields not in matter nor in ...more

Jan 17, 2013
Nika Mansouri Ghiasi
added it
آقا این سایت ستینگی نداره بگیم نصفه نیمه خوندیم فلان کتابو؟ریا می شه آخه اینطوری!من این کتاب را با امید و انگیزه ی فراوان شروع کردم ولی مخم نکشید ادامه بدم ،یعنی می شد بکشه ها ولی خیلی زمانبر بود

Nothing like the joy of Public Domain books.
I'll admit that I haven't read too much philosophy, but this was probably a good choice for me considering my background. I especially enjoyed the lecture on language and will probably look into more linguistic theory in the future. I am familiar with both Behaviorism and Introspection (being more of a Behaviorism fan due to its pragmatic uses), so I appreciate how he builds on, discuses, and refutes certain parts of their theories. I will say that ...more
I'll admit that I haven't read too much philosophy, but this was probably a good choice for me considering my background. I especially enjoyed the lecture on language and will probably look into more linguistic theory in the future. I am familiar with both Behaviorism and Introspection (being more of a Behaviorism fan due to its pragmatic uses), so I appreciate how he builds on, discuses, and refutes certain parts of their theories. I will say that ...more

I'm honestly fascinated with this book. I recall having read bits of it for a psychology class and more bits for a philosophy class. However, I never read the entire thing even though I actually have the book on my shelf.
I need to read the book, not listen to it, and take notes. This seems like it could be a great starting point for understanding metacognition and other neuroscience things that often relate to teaching, leadership, and working with people in any capacity. ...more
I need to read the book, not listen to it, and take notes. This seems like it could be a great starting point for understanding metacognition and other neuroscience things that often relate to teaching, leadership, and working with people in any capacity. ...more

Jan 24, 2012
David
marked it as to-read
marked as "to-read"; referenced in Borges' "La creación y P.H. Gosse"

Nov 21, 2010
Ally Krupar
is currently reading it
My first foray into reading on my iPod Touch. So far, interesting, obviously a seminal author and am looking forward to drawing connections between Russell and more contemporary authors.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, was a Welsh philosopher, historian, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, pacifist, and prominent rationalist. Although he was usually regarded as English, as he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his ...more
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his ...more
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Travelling, whether in the mental or the physical world, is a joy, and it is good to know that, in the mental world at least, there are vast countries still very imperfectly explored”
—
10 likes
“A word is used "correctly" when the average hearer will be affected by it in the way intended. This is a psychological, not a literary, definition of "correctness". The literary definition would substitute, for the average hearer, a person of high education living a long time ago; the purpose of this definition is to make it difficult to speak or write correctly.”
—
2 likes
More quotes…