In 1949 Gilbert Ryle publishes The Concept of Mind, dismantling what he names the dogma of the ghost in the machine: Descartes' inner theatre of mind. Ryle's analysis of mental concepts as dispositions to behave is the naturalist program carried into the philosophy of mind, where it sets the agenda the next generation inherits.
Tagged: Naturalism
The Event
- Date
- 1949 (exact)
- Era
- Pragmatism and Positivism; Standard periodization of naturalist history
- Location
- London; today London, England
- Traditions
- Naturalism
- Streams
- Naturalism
- Key figures
- Gilbert Ryle
- Key texts
- The Concept of Mind
Primary Sources
- Ryle, Gilbert. The Concept of Mind. London: Hutchinson, 1949.
Secondary Sources
- De Caro, Mario, and David Macarthur, eds. Naturalism in Question. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
- Gregory, Frederick. Scientific Materialism in Nineteenth Century Germany. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1977.
- Papineau, David. Philosophical Naturalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993.
Provenance: HIST-1413; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
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1770
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La Mettrie's Man a Machine
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Laplace's Exposition of the System of the World
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Mill's A System of Logic
1843
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Newton's Principia Mathematica
1687
World View
Naturalism
Naturalism holds that nature is all there is: the universe of matter, energy, and natural law needs no god, soul, or purpose beyond itself.