Abstract

Jennifer Hornsby has a distinct position on the metaphysics of mind and action, which she terms naïve naturalism. Her new book is a collection of essays, often illuminating, sometimes tantalizing and frustrating, in which she sketches the outlines of this position. The sketch is distributed over twelve essays in three main sections: Ontological Questions; Agency; and Mind, Causation, and Explanation. The discussions are far from introductory—they were mostly published in venues or read for audiences of a specialized nature—but they are rich with ideas that will engage graduate students and professional philosophers of many interests. Besides action theory, issues in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of science frequently surface indirectly, especially explanation theory and reductionism. Hornsby’s writing is stimulating and will reward those readers already familiar with at least the basic literature in any of these areas.