Anton Wilhelm Amo’s Philosophy of Mind

Abstract

One of Anton Wilhelm Amo's core contributions to philosophy is his study of the human mind. Amo argues that the human mind is a purely active, immaterial substance that always acts spontaneously and cannot itself be acted upon. Amo's account of the mind has far-reaching consequences for how he views the relation between mind and body, and our cognitive relation to the sensible world around us. This article introduces Amo's strongly representationalist position, and discusses the extent to which he circumvents the problem of epistemic isolation to which his views seem to give rise.