The Mind and Its World

ISBN-13: 9780415122054 / Angielski / Miękka / 1995 / 240 str.

Gregory McCulloch

Opis

This text provides an introduction to a cluster of contemporary controversies in the area of the philosophy of mind and language. Since Descartes, the mind has been thought to be in the head, separable from the world and even from the body it inhabits. Here, the author considers the latest debates in philosophy and cognitive science about whether the thinking subject actually requires an environment in order to be able to think. He explores the argument from Descartes, through Locke, Frege and Wittgenstein up to the present day. He then offers an original defence of his own version of externalism - that the mind is constituted by the objects which are its phenomena.

Recenzje

'If this book is read as widely as it deserves to be, especially by undergraduates, then it should have two beneficial effects: externalism will appear more straightforwardly compelling, and the haze surrounding it will no longer be mistaken for aura.' - MIND

'Provides an engaging introduction to the philosophy of language and the metaphysics of mind-world relations. The arguments are neatly signposted throughout the book and the style is clear and declamatory; the writing is fresh, vigorous and witty.' - MIND

Spis treści

Acknowledgements, Introduction, PART I, I. Descartes and Cartesianism, II. Locke and the Theory of Ideas, III. Frege and the Theory of Understanding, IV. Wittgenstein: Use and Understanding, V. Behaviourism and Mentalism, PART II, VI. What it is Really Likeq, VII. Twin Earth, VIII. Internalism and Externalism, Index

O autorze

McCulloch, Gregory