Philosophy of Mind

Issues related to the mind are an important component in contemporary philosophy. While colleagues in psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive ethology do empirical scientific studies of the mind, philosophers tend to focus on more general questions: What is the nature of mind, such as it may be found in any creature or thing? Philosophers tend to concentrate on questions such as: How is mind related to body? and How are we to understand the nature of such operations of mind as believing, knowing, perceiving, thinking, willing, understanding, and the like? Philosophers ask as well about the nature of self, of consciousness, and of the relation of these to the capacity for language.