Angus J. L. Menuge

Chair of the Philosophy Department, Concordia University Wisconsin

Angus J. L. Menuge is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Concordia University Wisconsin. He was raised in England and became an American citizen in 2005. He holds a BA (Honors, First Class) in philosophy from Warwick University, and an MA and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has written many peer-reviewed and popular articles on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of law, and the foundation of ethics. He is author of Agents Under Fire (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004) and editor of Legitimizing Human Rights (Ashgate, 2013; Routledge, 2016), and Religious Liberty and the Law (Routledge, 2017). He is co-editor with Jonathan J. Loose and J. P. Moreland of The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism (Blackwell, 2018) and, with Barry W. Bussey, of The Inherence of Human Dignity, volume I and II (Anthem Press, 2021). Menuge is past president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (2012–2018).

Archives

Evaluating Popular Theories of the Mind-Brain Relationship

Angus Menuge
November 23, 2023
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the most common mind-brain theories? On today’s episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor concludes his conversation with Dr. Angus Menuge about the mind-brain relationship and the popular dualistic theories of Cartesian dualism and Thomistic dualism. Cartesian dualism posits that the mind and body are fundamentally different substances, with the mind being immaterial and the body being material. Thomistic dualism, on the other hand, sees the mind and body as one substance, with the mind being the form of a human being. Dr. Menuge presents some of the strengths and weaknesses of both theories. The conversation also touches on topics such as the unity of consciousness, near-death experiences, information realism, and the limitations of reductionist …

Minding the Brain: Discussing the Groundbreaking New Book on the Mind-Brain Problem

Robert J. Marks, Brian Krouse, and Angus Menuge
September 28, 2023
Is the mind more than the brain? If so, what’s the difference? In today’s episode, Pat Flynn interviews the editors of the brand-new book Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science. Together, they discuss different perspectives on the mind-brain problem, consciousness, and the limits of materialism. Additional Resources Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science Ranked #1 on Amazon.com in New Releases in Cognitive Psychology Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Brian Krouse at Discovery.org Angus J. L. Menuge at Discovery.org Podcast …

Minding the Brain — An Introduction

Angus Menuge, Brian Krouse and Robert J. Marks II
September 24, 2023
In our modern age, full of science and technology, physical existence often appears to be the most substantial and “real” aspect of the world.

Minding the Brain

Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science
Angus J. Menuge, Brian R. Krouse, and Robert J. Marks
September 19, 2023
Is your mind the same thing as your brain, or are there aspects of mind beyond the brain’s biology? This is the mind-body problem, and it has captivated curious minds since the dawn of human contemplation. Today many insist that the mind is completely reducible to the brain. But is that claim justified? In this stimulating anthology, twenty-five philosophers and scientists offer fresh insights into the mind-brain debate, drawing on psychology, neurology, philosophy, computer science, and neurosurgery. Their provocative conclusion? The mind is indeed more than the brain. Online Content Introduction and Table of Contents Chapter 11—In What Sense Is Consciousness a Property? Chapter 20—Consciousness and Quantum Information Chapter 24—Can Consciousness Be Explained By Integrated …

The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism

Jonathan J. Loose, Angus J. L. Menuge, and J. P. Moreland
May 1, 2018
A groundbreaking collection of contemporary essays from leading international scholars that provides a balanced and expert account of the resurgent debate about substance dualism and its physicalist alternatives. Substance dualism has for some time been dismissed as an archaic and defeated position in philosophy of mind, but in recent years, the topic has experienced a resurgence of scholarly interest and has been restored to contemporary prominence by a growing minority of philosophers prepared to interrogate the core principles upon which past objections and misunderstandings rest. As the first book of its kind to bring together a collection of contemporary writing from top proponents and critics in a pro-contra format, The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism captures …

Agents Under Fire: Part One With Angus Menuge

Angus Menuge
August 18, 2008
On this episode of ID the Future, Casey Luskin interviews Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin and author of Agents Under Fire, Materialism and the Rationality of Science. Dr. Menuge shares how he got involved in the debate over intelligent design and evolution and what made him a skeptic of Darwinian evolution. Listen in as Dr. Menuge explains what is necessary for the Darwinian account of evolutionary complex …

The Role of Agency in Science

Angus J. L. Menuge
February 3, 2008
Agency is the Achilles' heel of scientific materialism. If the materialist eliminates agency, he undermines the rationality of science. But agency also fails to reduce to materialistic categories. So, if we want to preserve the rationality of science and follow the evidence wherever it leads, we must conclude that agency is an irreducible causal category. And that is precisely the claim of Intelligent Design.

Agents Under Fire

Materialism and the Rationality of Science
Angus J. L. Menuge
July 1, 2004
In the first study of its kind, Agents Under Fire defends a robust notion of agency and intentionality against eliminative and naturalistic alternatives, showing the interconnections between the philosophy of mind, theology, and Intelligent Design. Menuge argues that Behe’s irreducible complexity is a challenge to reductionism not only in biology, but also in psychology, and shows the inability of the Darwinian psychology proposed by Dawkins, Dennett, and Steven Pinker to explain the integration, unity, direction, and reliability of rational thought. This fascinating defense against scientific materialism is the only book-length study relating Intelligent Design to contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind. Drawing on his experience as both a philosopher and a computer …