This is an introduction to the mind-body problem – a complex tangle. No previous knowledge of the subject-matter is presupposed, but the reader with a year or two's acquaintance with philosophy will probably benefit most. The aim is to provide insights into what's puzzling about the main problems, what's important in the main theories, and what's good or bad about (some of) the main arguments. Since much contemporary philosophy is devoted to issues in this area, it would not have been sensible in a short work to have attempted to cover either all relevant topics or all important contributions. Instead I have tried to provide a compact, reliable framework that holds the reader's interest, and which can be built on as needed. I have also tried to encourage a questioning approach: switching between “sponge” and “rapier” modes makes reading philosophy more fun. There are suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, and full references at the end, where one or two useful websites are listed.

My thanks to colleagues and generations of students whose penetrating and often disconcerting questions over the years have stimulated my thinking. Thanks to two readers for Acumen for useful comments and suggestions. Thanks also to my wife Janet for all kinds of help.