This is an introduction to contemporary debates in the philosophy of mind. In particular, the book focuses on the controversial eliminativist and instrumentalist attacks - from the likes of Quine, Dennett, and the Churchlands - on the ordinary concept of mind. In so doing, the author offers an explication and defence of mental realism, and shows how Fodor's representational theory of mind affords a compelling account of much of the ordinary mental talk of beliefs, hopes, and desires.

This is an introduction to contemporary debates in the philosophy of mind. In particular, the book focuses on the controversial eliminativist and instrumentalist attacks - from the likes of Quine, Dennett, and the Churchlands - on the ordinary concept of mind. In so doing, the author offers an explication and defence of mental realism, and shows how Fodor's representational theory of mind affords a compelling account of much of the ordinary mental talk of beliefs, hopes, and desires.