Robert Kirk was een Schotse predikant en folklorist die zich diep verdiepte in de folklore van de Schotse Hooglanden. Zijn werk behandelt het bovennatuurlijke en verkent de overtuigingen rond feeën, hekserij en geesten. Hij onderzocht ook het fenomeen van het 'tweede gezicht', een vorm van verhoogde intuïtie of voorkennis. Kirk's onderzoek biedt een fascinerend inzicht in de destijds heersende denkbeelden en wereldbeelden.
Exploring the intricate relationship between mental processes and physical existence, Robert Kirk delves into the mind-body problem, presenting a thoughtful introduction to its various questions and dilemmas. The book invites readers to engage with philosophical inquiries about consciousness, identity, and the nature of reality, making it accessible for those new to the topic while also offering insights for more seasoned thinkers.
Consciousness is a perennial source of mystification in the philosophy of mind - how can processes in the brain amount to conscious experiences? Robert Kirk uses the notion of "raw feeling" to bridge the intelligibility gap between our knowledge of ourselves as physical organisms and our knowledge of ourselves as subjects of experience. He argues that there is no need for recourse to dualism or private mental objects. The task is to understand how the truth about raw feeling could be "strictly implied" by narrowly physical truths. Kirk's explanation turns on an account of what it is to be a subject of conscious perceptual experience. He offers analyses of the problems of cnsciousness, and suggests novel solutions which, unlike their rivals, can be accepted without gritting one's teeth. His sustained defence of non-reductive physicalism shows that the reader need not abandon hope of finding a solution to the mind-body problem. Robert Kirk is the author of "Translation Determined".
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies by Scots minister Robert Kirk, is the most sought after and curious texts on the subject of Celtic fairies. The work, originally written in 1691 and eventually committed to print in 19th century, as edited by Andrew Lang, is a sympathetic account of the dwellers of fairydom, and the and a host of strange extrasensory phenomena which include poltergeists, clairvoyance, and doppelgangers.