Books
Body Language: Representation in Action (MIT Press 2006)
This book comprises an extended argument for the claim that mental representations are not exclusively internal configurations of a subject, but extend out into the subject’s behaviour – and do so independently of the relation this behaviour bears to intentional states of that subject. Representation is representational all the way out!
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For anyone interested in action theory or the philosophy of action, or the concept of representation, this is an important book. Shaun Gallagher, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Everything I Know I Learned From TV (Ebury 2005)
An exploration of important themes in contemporary political philosophy – in particular, the liberal-communitarian debate – through the medium of popular TV series, including, Buffy, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Friends, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and Frasier
Dutch translation 2006
Finnish translation 2007
Portuguese translation (Brazil) 2007
Spanish translation 2008
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Remarkably successful... in its rigour and lucidity, and the persuasive, easy way that philosphoical dilemmas are applied to everyday life. Everything I know stands far above most previous efforts to popularise philosophy. Robert Hanks, The Independent.
Reading each chapter there is a remarkably sense of learning something important. The Observer.
Clever and original... brings philosophy up to date. The Big Issue
The author's delivery may be joky, but his philosophy is the real thing. Mail On Sunday, 'You' Magazine Book of the Week.
An intelligent and hilarious look at why we are here. Elle Girl
It all makes sense now. The Guardian
Why should I trust him on philosophy when he doesn't even know his way around a kitchen? Sunday Independent
The Philosopher at the End of the Universe. (Ebury 2003)
This is an introduction to philosophy through the medium of low- to mid-brow science fiction films (The Matrix, Total Recall, Blade Runner, Terminator, Hollow Man, Aliens, Star Wars, etc).
Second (mass-market) edition 2005
US edition, Tom Dunne Books 2004.
2nd U.S. edition, St Martin’s Griffin, 2005: Sci-Phi: Philosophy, From Socrates to Schwarzenegger
Indonesian translation, 2004
Japanese translation 2005
Korean translation 2005
Portuguese translation (Brazil) 2005
Russian translation 2006
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Rowlands succeeds in his aims remarkably well. Not only is each chapter a model of philosophical exposition, conveying philosophical ideas with exemplary verve and clarity, the book also manages to connect the philosophy to the movies in a natural and convincing way … distinctly laddish … serves to inject a degree of passion into the bloodless halls of philosophy … the irreverent style combines the folksy with the rigorous, the shallow with the deep – and philosophy needs all the humour it can get. Colin McGinn, TimesLiterary Supplement, No. 5246, October 17, 2003
Rowlands has a light touch. . . . Overall, this manages to be diverting without destroying too many brain cells, which is probably what you want from a holiday read. The Guardian (U.K.)
Hugely entertaining. . . . Rowlands knows his stuff and marries some of the tougher philosophical arguments to the more accessible conduit of popular entertainment . . . enjoyable and illuminating.
Waterstone's Books Quarterly (U.K.)
The discussions are serious, but the tone of the book is irreverent; there are laughs for both newcomers and old hands.
www.listology.com
Some bits made me laugh out loud. . . . He has an excellent way of explaining complex ideas and terms. After reading quite a lot of Nietzsche (in my wayward youth especially) I think that Rowlands does a better way at explaining him than the man himself!
www.scifimoviepage.com
Mark Rowlands, in Sci-Phi - Philosophy from Socrates to Schwarzenegger, succeeds, however, in hitting the target with a witty, hilarious and no-holds-barred take … His writing is very accessible. He knows how to broach philosophy without sounding like an old decrepit bored-with-life teacher in a stuffy college. But he also doesn’t write in a condescending way that alienates a reader made to feel stupid.
David des Jardins, www.blogcritics.org
Externalism: Putting Mind and World Back Together Again. (Acumen 2003)
Externalist views of the mind constitute one of the most important developments in the philosophy of mind in the second half of the 20th century. This book examines externalism in its various forms, and traces its roots in early 20th century pure and existential phenomenology.
U.S. edition, McGill-Queen’s University Press 2003
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This is a first-rate book and makes a significant contribution to the internalism/externalism debate in the philosophy of mind. Although the issues discussed are often complex and technical, the book is so well written that it could serve as a primary text for an advanced undergraduate course in the philosophy of mind. Of course, graduate students and professional philosophers with a general interest in the internalism/externalism debate will also profit from reading Rowlands’ very interesting book. Colin Ruloff, Philosophy in Review, 2005
Remarkably, Mark Rowlands’ new book does something new in the internalism/externalism debate. It places the thesis of externalism within a larger, more comprehensive, philosophical outlook. The issue has often been debated in what is bound to appear to the non-philosopher in a technical, almost stale, fashion. But the issue would not stay with us for so long if it was not pregnant with deeper philosophical significance. Rowlands brings out that significance … [He] places the issue of internalism/externalism within a philosophical context that gives the reader a feel for the issue’s importance. Rowlands’ book is a breath of fresh air in a research area often dominated by technicalities. It thus fills an important gap in the existing literature. Uriah Kriegel, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 2007.
Animals Like Us (Verso, 2002)
This book is a theoretical and practical introduction to the idea of animal rights. It examines and defends the major arguments for the moral entitlements of animals, and looks at principal issues such as animal husbandry, vivisection, hunting, zoos, pets.
U.S. edition, W.W. Norton 2002
Korean translation 2004.
Turkish 2005.
This entertaining and well-informed book is a must for anyone who has an interest in animal rights … Rowlands arguments are not just clearly expressed, they are sophisticated. I do not envy those who have to embark on the task of funding fault with his rigorous philosophical argumentation. Lisa Bortolotti, Metapsychology, September 14, 2002
A powerful and provocative champion of animal rights. E.S. Turner, Times Literary Supplement, October 11, 2002
Some think Animals Like Us is the next Animal Liberation. PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – catalogue
The Nature of Consciousness (Cambridge University Press 2001; paperback edition 2007)
This book examines the place, or the lack of place, of phenomenal consciousness in the natural world. Part 1 examines attempts to reductively explain consciousness, either physically or mentalistically (e.g. higher-order perception and higher-order thought models). Part 2 argues that the phenomenal aspects of consciousness are not objects of conscious acquaintance, but only in the directing of awareness towards non-phenomenal objects. This entails, among other things, that consciousness cannot be reductively explained. This, however, is not a form of dualism about consciousness.
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The focus of Mark Rowlands’s admirable, richly argued book is phenomenal consciousness … intriguing novel position … Rowlands advances a highly challenging alternative to the standard views about phenomenal consciousness, which he supports by extensive, thoughtful argument. This is a book that anybody interested in consciousness and qualitative character will want to read. David Rosenthal, Mind, 2004
This book is required reading not only for those wanting to get to grips with what is going on in consciousness studies, but for those who are dissatisfied with the current accounts … In treating and successfully demolishing the current approach to consciousness as object, Rowlands simultaneously resurrects the consciousness-as-activity thesis which was buried with the last of the great Husserlian-inspired phenomenologists, Jean-Paul Sartre … What is important is that his style and arguments are much tighter and stronger than those of either Sartre or Husserl … may have single-handedly transformed consciousness studies into philosophy of consciousness. Ion Georgiou, Metapsychology, 2002
The Nature of Consciousness is a good book. It makes a reasonably strong case for an unpopular view of the mind with potentially far-reaching consequences. It is elegantly written, clearly organized, provocative and … well-argued. Torin Alter, Philosophical Studies
His interesting … book deserves praise for setting out a detailed and well-argued case for actualism, and for making a forceful case for its transcendental nature in the context of mainstream, objectualist, analytical philosophy of mind. Jakob Hohwy, Philosophical Psychology, 2005
The Environmental Crisis: Understanding the Value of Nature (Macmillan 2000)
This book develops and defends a model of environmental value based on the dissolution of the subject/object distinction. Traditional philosophical attempts to subvert this distinction rely on trying to "pull the world into the mind", i.e. on one or another version of idealism. This makes it impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conception of environmental value. The required model of such value is based on the idea of "pulling the mind into the world", showing how the mind literally possesses worldly constituents.
The Environmental Crisis is a work that every scholar of philosophy should be required to read, digest, and be provoked by. Arthur Westing, Environment, September 2001
Reading Rowlands’ book is a lot like having the best sort of guide take you on a hiking trip over rugged terrain. When you finish the hike, turn and see all that you have travelled, you are amazed. The jauntiness of the journey distracted your attention to just how difficult the trail was. Then you realize this amazement was all according to your guide’s plan. Rowlands, in The Environmental Crisis, covers an enormous amount of ground, much of it technical, but his light and engaging writing style, his rich illustrations and frequent summaries suggest that he is always mindful of the reader. He is a great guide. Jennifer Baker, Environmental Ethics, 24, 2002
The Body in Mind: Understanding Cognitive Processes (Cambridge University Press 1999; paperback edition 2008)
This book develops a radical externalist – or as I then called it ‘environmentalist’ – model of cognitive processes. Processes such as perceiving, remembering, thinking, reasoning, understanding and language comprehension are not located purely inside the skin of cognizing organisms; neither can they be understood by focusing exclusively on what is occurring inside the skin of such organisms. Rather such processes often comprise, in part, manipulation, exploitation and transformation of suitable environmental structures.
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I think that Rowlands has written an important and provocative book. He has command of a vast literature in philosophy and cognitive science, and he draws on a wonderful variety of sources … In its laudable aim of unseating the internalist picture, I think the book is largely successful. Rowlands begins with Wittgenstein’s famous line, “A picture held us captive”, and he has gone a long way toward demonstrating that the internalist picture is not the only way, or even the best theoretical way, to think about cognitive processes. I recommend this book to anyone tempted by internalism. Lynne Rudder Baker, Mind, 2001.
The book certainly merits attention. It brings together material from a very wide variety of sources, bearing on externalism about the mind, and uses this material in a distinctive way. Alan Millar, Philosophical Review, 2001
Stimulating … a significant contribution to anti-internalist cognitive science’ Pierre Jacob, Mind and Language, 2002
Animal Rights: A Philosophical Defence (Macmillan 1998)
In this book, I argue that an influential form of the social contract idea (specifically a form of neo-Rawlsianism), can be used to make sense of and justify the concept of animal rights, and consequently defend the claim that our obligations to the non-human sentient world are far more substantial than we commonly think.
Animal Rights is a humorous, extremely well written and organised text, useful both in undergraduate and graduate courses and as reference material for non-philosophers. (Marcel Wissenburg, Environmental Politics)
An impressive new work. Andrew Linzey, Animal Rites.
Supervenience and Materialism (Ashgate 1995)
This book comprises an examination of the concept of supervenience, and the utility or otherwise of this concept in providing a materialist account of mental phenomena. Supervenience-based versions of materialism are developed, compared and contrasted with other types of materialist account, including token-identity theory, reduction, psychophysical laws, explanatory exhaustiveness, etc.
It is packed with close argument … Many of the chapters close with a summary which is of help in view of the intricacy of the reasoning. It is an important contribution to the literature and will be particularly useful to those who are more happy with the metaphysical use of modal concepts than I am … Rowlands has not convinced me that the materialist needs the notion of supervenience. He may well convince plenty of others. J.J.C. Smart, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 75, 1, 1997.
