Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind

Gilbert Harman presents a selection of his writings on fundamental issues in analytic philosophy. He discusses basic principles of reasoning and rationality; sets out his view of meaning, knowledge, and truth; examines the relation between language and thought; and develops these themes in an investigation of the nature of mind.

This is a collection of previously published papers. It is a pleasure to see them reedited, updated, and available under one cover at an accessible paperback price....Devoted followers of QUinian empiricism and naturalist methodology...will find much in this work to enjoy and applaud. Opponents will find much to disturb and trouble them. All will be stimulated.

Autorentext

Gilbert Harman is Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University.

Klappentext

In this important new collection, Gilbert Harman presents a selection of fifteen interconnected essays on fundamental issues at the center of analytic philosophy. The book opens with a group of four essays discussing basic principles of reasoning and rationality. The next three essays argue against the once popular idea that certain claims are true and knowable by virtue of meaning. In the third group of essays Harman presents his own view of meaning and the possibility of thinking in language. The final three essays investigate the nature of mind, developing further the themes already set out.
Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind offers an integrated presentation of this rich and influential body of work, which Harman has developed over thirty years.

Zusammenfassung
Gilbert Harman presents a selection of fifteen interconnected essays on fundamental issues at the centre of analytic philosophy. The book opens with a group of four essays discussing basic principles of reasoning and rationality. The next three essays argue against the idea that certain claims are true by virtue of meaning and knowable by virtue of meaning. In the third group of essays Harman sets out his own view of meaning, arguing that it depends upon the functioning of concepts in reasoning, perception, and action, by which these concepts are related to the world. He also examines the relation between language and thought. The final three essays investigate the nature of mind, developing further the themes already set out. Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind offers an integrated presentation of this rich and influential body of work.

Inhalt

• Introduction

• Part I. Reasoning

• 1: Rationality

• 2: Practical Reasoning

• 3: Simplicity as a Pragmatic Criterion for Deciding What Hypotheses to Take Seriously

• 4: Pragmatism and Reasons for Belief

• Part II. Analyticity

• 5: The Death of Meaning

• 6: Doubts about Conceptual Analysis

• 7: Analyticity Regained?

• Part III. Meaning

• 8: Three Levels of Meaning

• 9: Language, Thought, and Communication

• 10: Language Learning

• 11: Meaning and Semantics

• 12: (Nonsolipsistic) Conceptual Role Semantics

• Part IV. Mind

• 13: Wide Functionalism

• 14: The Intrinsic Quality of Experience

• 15: Immanent versus Transcendent Theories of Meaning and Mind

• Bibliography

• Index