Self and World is an exploration of the nature of self-awareness. Quassim Cassam challenges the widespread and influential view that we cannot be introspectively aware of ourselves as objects in the world. In opposition to the views of many empiricist and idealistic philosophers, including Hume, Kant and Wittgenstein, he argues that the self is not systematically elusive from the perspective of self-consciousness, and that consciousness of our thoughts and experiences requires a sense of our thinking, experiencing selves as shaped, located, and solid physical objects in a world of such objects. Awareness of oneself as a physical object involves forms of bodily self-awareness whose importance has seldom been properly acknowledged in philosophical accounts of the self and self-awareness. The conception of self-awareness defended in this book helps to undermins the idealist thesis that the self does not belong to the world, and also the claim that the existence of subjects or persons is only a derivative feature of reality. In the final part of the book, Cassam argues that the existence of persons is a substantial fact about the world, and that it is not possible to give a complete description of reality without claiming that persons exist. This clear, original, and challenging treatment of one of the deepest intellectual problems will demand the attention of all philosophers and cognitive scientists who are concerned with the self.

About the Author
Quassim Cassam has been Lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford University, and Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford, since 1986. In 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the editor of the volume on Self-Knowledge in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series (1994).

Reviews
Cassam's book deals with fascinating topics ... ingenious handling of the many arguments and objections he explores. * Andrew Brook, Mind, Vol. 110, Jan 01 *
indispensable to any philosopher concerned with this difficult topic * Sir Peter Strawson *
A short summary cannot do justice to the richness and subtlety of Cassam's discussion, or to the clarity, carefulness and fair-mindedness with which he argues his case. * Times Literary Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198235408
Author Quassim Cassam
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 386g
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 144mm * 17mm