- Table View
- List View
Minds and Bodies: An Introduction with Readings (Philosophy and the Human Situation)
by Robert WilkinsonMinds and Bodies is a clear introduction to the mind-body problem. It requires no prior philosophical knowledge and is ideally suited to newcomers to philosophy and philosophy of mind. Robert Wilkinson carefully introduces the fundamental components of the philosophy of mind: Descartes's dualist account of mind and body; monist views including eliminativism; computer science and artificial intelligence. Each chapter is linked to a reading from key thinkers in the field, from Descartes to Paul Churchland.
Minds without Meanings
by Jerry A. Fodor Zenon W. PylyshynIn cognitive science, conceptual content is frequently understood as the "meaning" of a mental representation. This position raises largely empirical questions about what concepts are, what form they take in mental processes, and how they connect to the world they are about. In Minds without Meaning, Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn review some of the proposals put forward to answer these questions and find that none of them is remotely defensible. Fodor and Pylyshyn determine that all of these proposals share a commitment to a two-factor theory of conceptual content, which holds that the content of a concept consists of its sense together with its reference. Fodor and Pylyshyn argue instead that there is no conclusive case against the possibility of a theory of concepts that takes reference as their sole semantic property. Such a theory, if correct, would provide for the naturalistic account of content that cognitive science lacks -- and badly needs. Fodor and Pylyshyn offer a sketch of how this theory might be developed into an account of perceptual reference that is broadly compatible with empirical findings and with the view that the mental processes effecting perceptual reference are largely preconceptual, modular, and encapsulated.
Minds without Meanings: An Essay on the Content of Concepts (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Jerry A. Fodor Zenon W. PylyshynTwo prominent thinkers argue for the possibility of a theory of concepts that takes reference to be concepts' sole semantic property.In cognitive science, conceptual content is frequently understood as the “meaning” of a mental representation. This position raises largely empirical questions about what concepts are, what form they take in mental processes, and how they connect to the world they are about. In Minds without Meaning, Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn review some of the proposals put forward to answer these questions and find that none of them is remotely defensible.Fodor and Pylyshyn determine that all of these proposals share a commitment to a two-factor theory of conceptual content, which holds that the content of a concept consists of its sense together with its reference. Fodor and Pylyshyn argue instead that there is no conclusive case against the possibility of a theory of concepts that takes reference as their sole semantic property. Such a theory, if correct, would provide for the naturalistic account of content that cognitive science lacks—and badly needs. Fodor and Pylyshyn offer a sketch of how this theory might be developed into an account of perceptual reference that is broadly compatible with empirical findings and with the view that the mental processes effecting perceptual reference are largely preconceptual, modular, and encapsulated.
Mindshaping
by Tadeusz Wieslaw ZawidzkiIn this novel account of distinctively human social cognition, Tadeusz Zawidzkiargues that the key distinction between human and nonhuman social cognition consists in our complex,diverse, and flexible capacities to shape each other's minds in ways that make them easier to interpret. Zawidzki proposes that such "mindshaping" -- which takes the form of capacities and practices such as sophisticated imitation, pedagogy, conformity to norms, and narrative self-constitution -- is the most important component of human social cognition. Without it, heargues, none of the other components of what he terms the "human sociocognitive syndrome," including sophisticated language, cooperation, and sophisticated "mind reading," would be possible. Challenging the dominant view that sophisticated mind reading -- especially propositional attitude attribution -- is the key evolutionary innovation behind distinctively human social cognition, Zawidzki contends that the capacity to attribute such mental states depends on the evolution of mindshaping practices. Propositional attitude attribution, he argues, is likely to be unreliable unless most of us are shaped to have similar kinds of propositional attitudes in similar circumstances. Motivations to mindshape, selected to make sophisticated cooperation possible,combine with low-level mind reading abilities that we share with nonhuman species to make it easier for humans to interpret and anticipate each other's behavior. Eventually, this led, in human prehistory, to the capacity to attribute full-blown propositional attitudes accurately -- a capacity that is parasitic, in phylogeny and today, on prior capacities to shape minds. Bringing together findings from developmental psychology, comparative psychology, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy of psychology, Zawidzki offers a strikingly original framework for understanding human social cognition.
Mindshaping: A New Framework for Understanding Human Social Cognition
by Tadeusz Wieslaw ZawidzkiA proposal that human social cognition would not have evolved without mechanisms and practices that shape minds in ways that make them easier to interpret. In this novel account of distinctively human social cognition, Tadeusz Zawidzki argues that the key distinction between human and nonhuman social cognition consists in our complex, diverse, and flexible capacities to shape each other's minds in ways that make them easier to interpret. Zawidzki proposes that such "mindshaping"—which takes the form of capacities and practices such as sophisticated imitation, pedagogy, conformity to norms, and narrative self-constitution—is the most important component of human social cognition. Without it, he argues, none of the other components of what he terms the "human sociocognitive syndrome," including sophisticated language, cooperation, and sophisticated "mindreading," would be possible. Challenging the dominant view that sophisticated mindreading—especially propositional attitude attribution—is the key evolutionary innovation behind distinctively human social cognition, Zawidzki contends that the capacity to attribute such mental states depends on the evolution of mindshaping practices. Propositional attitude attribution, he argues, is likely to be unreliable unless most of us are shaped to have similar kinds of propositional attitudes in similar circumstances. Motivations to mindshape, selected to make sophisticated cooperation possible, combine with low-level mindreading abilities that we share with nonhuman species to make it easier for humans to interpret and anticipate each other's behavior. Eventually, this led, in human prehistory, to the capacity to attribute full-blown propositional attitudes accurately—a capacity that is parasitic, in phylogeny and today, on prior capacities to shape minds.Bringing together findings from developmental psychology, comparative psychology, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy of psychology, Zawidzki offers a strikingly original framework for understanding human social cognition.
Mindsight: Image, Dream, Meaning
by Colin McGinnHow to imagine the imagination is a topic that draws philosophers the way flowers draw honeybees. From Plato and Aristotle to Wittgenstein and Sartre, philosophers have talked and written about this most elusive of topics--that is, until contemporary analytic philosophy of mind developed. Perhaps it is the vast range of the topic that has scared off our contemporaries, ranging as it does from mental images to daydreams. The guiding thread of this book is the distinction Colin McGinn draws between perception and imagination. Clearly, seeing an object is similar in certain respects to forming a mental image of it, but it is also different. McGinn shows what the differences are, arguing that imagination is a sui generis mental faculty. He goes on to discuss the nature of dreaming and madness, contending that these are primarily imaginative phenomena. In the second half of the book McGinn focuses on what he calls cognitive (as opposed to sensory) imagination, and investigates the role of imagination in logical reasoning, belief formation, the understanding of negation and possibility, and the comprehension of meaning. His overall claim is that imagination pervades our mental life, obeys its own distinctive principles, and merits much more attention.
Mindvaults: Sociocultural Grounds for Pretending and Imagining
by Radu J. BogdanThe human mind has the capacity to vault over the realm of current perception,motivation, emotion, and action, to leap -- consciously and deliberately -- to past or future,possible or impossible, abstract or concrete scenarios and situations. In this book, Radu Bogdanexamines the roots of this uniquely human ability, which he terms "mindvaulting. " He focusesparticularly on the capacities of pretending and imagining, which he identifies as the first formsof mindvaulting to develop in childhood. Pretending and imagining, Bogdan argues, are crucial stepson the ontogenetic staircase to the intellect. Bogdan finds that pretending and then imaginingdevelop from a variety of sources for reasons that are specific and unique to human childhood. Heargues that these capacities arise as responses to sociocultural and sociopolitical pressures thatemerge at different stages of childhood. Bogdan argues that some of the properties of mindvaulting-- including domain versatility and nonmodularity -- resist standard evolutionary explanations. Toresolve this puzzle, Bogdan reorients the evolutionary analysis toward human ontogeny, construed asa genuine space of evolution with specific pressures and adaptive responses. Bogdan finds thatpretending is an ontogenetic response to sociocultural challenges in early childhood, apre-adaptation for imagining; after age four, the adaptive response to cooperative and competitivesociopolitical pressures is a competence for mental strategizing that morphs intoimagining.
Mindvaults: Sociocultural Grounds for Pretending and Imagining (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Radu J. BogdanAn argument that the uniquely human capacities of pretending and imagining develop in response to sociocultural and sociopolitical pressures in childhood.The human mind has the capacity to vault over the realm of current perception, motivation, emotion, and action, to leap—consciously and deliberately—to past or future, possible or impossible, abstract or concrete scenarios and situations. In this book, Radu Bogdan examines the roots of this uniquely human ability, which he terms "mindvaulting." He focuses particularly on the capacities of pretending and imagining, which he identifies as the first forms of mindvaulting to develop in childhood. Pretending and imagining, Bogdan argues, are crucial steps on the ontogenetic staircase to the intellect.Bogdan finds that pretending and then imagining develop from a variety of sources for reasons that are specific and unique to human childhood. He argues that these capacities arise as responses to sociocultural and sociopolitical pressures that emerge at different stages of childhood. Bogdan argues that some of the properties of mindvaulting—including domain versatility and nonmodularity—resist standard evolutionary explanations. To resolve this puzzle, Bogdan reorients the evolutionary analysis toward human ontogeny, construed as a genuine space of evolution with specific pressures and adaptive responses. Bogdan finds that pretending is an ontogenetic response to sociocultural challenges in early childhood, a pre-adaptation for imagining; after age four, the adaptive response to cooperative and competitive sociopolitical pressures is a competence for mental strategizing that morphs into imagining.
Mindware: Herramientas para pensar mejor
by Richard E. NisbettUn libro revelador que nos enseña a analizar problemas cotidianos aplicando las herramientas científicas más útiles para tomar mejores decisiones profesionales, empresariales y personales. Hay conceptos científicos y lógicos que cambian el modo en que solucionamos problemas cotidianos al ayudarnos a pensar de modo más claro acerca del mundo y de nuestras acciones. Sorprendentemente, pese a su utilidad, muchas de estas herramientas permanecen olvidadas por la mayoría de nosotros. En Mindware, el eminente psicólogo Richard E. Nisbett expone estos conceptos de manera clara y accesible. La distinguida carrera de Nisbett ha consistido en el estudio y la difusión de ideas tan potentes para resolver situaciones como la ley de los grandes números, regresiones estadísticas, análisis de coste y beneficio, costes de oportunidad y costes hundidos, o la causalidad y la correlación, en busca de la mejor manera de lograr que los demás los usen eficazmente en su día a día. En este libro, Nisbett nos enseña a analizar problemas habituales de manera que estos principios científicos y estadísticos sean aplicables. El resultado es una guía tan práctica como iluminadora a las herramientas de pensamiento más importantes; herramientas que se pueden emplear de modo inmediato para tomar mejores decisiones profesionales, empresariales y personales. Críticas:«El pensador que más me ha influido es el psicólogo Richard Nisbett. A él le debo mi visión del mundo.»Malcolm Gladwell «Mindware nos ofrece la oportunidad de comprender y reaccionar de modo más inteligente al caótico mundo que nos rodea.»Leonard Mlodinow, The New Yor Times Book Review
Minerva's Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures
by Noël CarrollMinerva’s Night Out presents series of essays by noted philosopher and motion picture and media theorist Noël Carroll that explore issues at the intersection of philosophy, motion pictures, and popular culture. Presents a wide-ranging series of essays that reflect on philosophical issues relating to modern film and popular culture Authored by one of the best known philosophers dealing with film and popular culture Written in an accessible manner to appeal to students and scholars Coverage ranges from the philosophy of Halloween to Vertigo and the pathologies of romantic love
Minerva's Owl: The Tradition of Western Political Thought
by Jeffrey B AbramsonAs Hegel famously noted, referring to the Roman goddess Minerva, her owl brought back wisdom only at dusk, when it was too late to shine light on actual politics. Jeffrey Abramson provides a lively and accessible guide for readers discovering the tradition of political thought that dates back to Socrates and Plato, with contemporary examples that illustrate the enduring nature of political dilemmas.
Mini Big Ideas: A Little Book of Big Innovations
by Jonny Thomson'Witty, knowledgeable and mind-expanding' RICHARD FISHER | 'A joyful romp' TOM HARFORD | 'A fun and inspiring teaser for curious minds' JÉRÉMIE HARRISEvery so often, a new idea comes along that changes everything. Vaccinations. Relativity. Fascism. Can we imagine a world before the invention of writing? What would Christianity have looked like without with a concept of hell? Sometimes these ideas come along suddenly: Copernicus suggesting the earth revolves around the sun; Gutenberg's printing press, Darwin's theory of evolution. Sometimes they evolve over generations: the institution of marriage; the development of animal husbandry; the understanding of genetics. Either way, once the idea gains a foothold, nothing is the same again.This fascinating little book tells the stories behind 150 revolutionary concepts and explains why they are important. Taken from the realms of science, politics, society, religion and technology, these are the big ideas that have changed the world - in a nutshell.
Mini Big Ideas: A Little Book of Big Innovations
by Jonny Thomson'Witty, knowledgeable and mind-expanding' RICHARD FISHER | 'A joyful romp' TOM HARFORD | 'A fun and inspiring teaser for curious minds' JÉRÉMIE HARRISEvery so often, a new idea comes along that changes everything. Vaccinations. Relativity. Fascism. Can we imagine a world before the invention of writing? What would Christianity have looked like without with a concept of hell? Sometimes these ideas come along suddenly: Copernicus suggesting the earth revolves around the sun; Gutenberg's printing press, Darwin's theory of evolution. Sometimes they evolve over generations: the institution of marriage; the development of animal husbandry; the understanding of genetics. Either way, once the idea gains a foothold, nothing is the same again.This fascinating little book tells the stories behind 150 revolutionary concepts and explains why they are important. Taken from the realms of science, politics, society, religion and technology, these are the big ideas that have changed the world - in a nutshell.
Mini Big Ideas: A Little Book of Big Innovations
by Jonny ThomsonFrom the internationally acclaimed author of MINI PHILOSOPHY, here are 150 big ideas in bite-sized chunks.Every so often, a new idea comes along that changes everything. Vaccinations. Relativity. Fascism. Can we imagine a world before the invention of writing? What would Christianity have looked like without with a concept of hell? Sometimes these ideas come along suddenly: Copernicus suggesting the earth revolves around the sun; Gutenberg's printing press, Darwin's theory of evolution. Sometimes they evolve over generations: the institution of marriage; the development of animal husbandry; the understanding of genetics. Either way, once the idea gains a foothold, nothing is the same again.This fascinating little audiobook tells the stories behind 150 revolutionary concepts and explains why they are important. Taken from the realms of science, politics, society, religion and technology, these are the big ideas that have changed the world - in a nutshell.(P) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Mini Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas
by Jonny Thomson'Engaging, smart and wise, Mini-Philosophy is a diverse taster menu of ideas on life, the mind and the world. Nutritious, bite-sized portions of philosophy that whet the appetite for more' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone ClocksWhy do people enjoy watching scary movies? Should we bet on the existence of God? Why is pleasure better than pain? And when is a duck not a duck?Mini Philosophy is a fascinating journey into what some of the greatest minds of the last 2500 years have to say about the big questions in life, and why they are relevant to us today.Covering everything from Sun Tzu's strategy for winning at board games to Freud's insights into our 'death drive'; why De Beauvoir believed the mothering instinct is a myth to why Schopenhauer probably wasn't much fun at parties, these mini meditations will expand your mind (and bend it too).
Mini Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas
by Jonny Thomson'Engaging, smart and wise, Mini-Philosophy is a diverse taster menu of ideas on life, the mind and the world. Nutritious, bite-sized portions of philosophy that whet the appetite for more' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone ClocksWhy do people enjoy watching scary movies? Should we bet on the existence of God? Why is pleasure better than pain? And when is a duck not a duck?Mini Philosophy is a fascinating journey into what some of the greatest minds of the last 2500 years have to say about the big questions in life, and why they are relevant to us today.Covering everything from Sun Tzu's strategy for winning at board games to Freud's insights into our 'death drive'; why De Beauvoir believed the mothering instinct is a myth to why Schopenhauer probably wasn't much fun at parties, these mini meditations will expand your mind (and bend it too).
Mini Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas
by Jonny Thomson150 bite-sized insights into philosophy's greatest minds. 'Engaging, smart and wise, Mini-Philosophy is a diverse taster menu of ideas on life, the mind and the world. Nutritious, bite-sized portions of philosophy that whet the appetite for more' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks Why do people enjoy watching scary movies? Should we bet on the existence of God? Why is pleasure better than pain? And when is a duck not a duck? Mini Philosophy is a fascinating journey into what some of the greatest minds of the last 2500 years have to say about the big questions in life, and why they are relevant to us today. Covering everything from Sun Tzu's strategy for winning at board games to Freud's insights into our 'death drive'; why De Beauvoir believed the mothering instinct is a myth to why Schopenhauer probably wasn't much fun at parties, these mini meditations will expand your mind (and bend it too).(P) 2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Miniature Metropolis
by Andreas HuyssenAndreas Huyssen explores the history and theory of metropolitan miniatures--short prose pieces about urban life written for European newspapers. His fine-grained readings open vistas into German critical theory and the visual arts, revealing the miniature to be one of the few genuinely innovative modes of spatialized writing created by modernism.
Minik: An Arctic Explorer, a Museum, and the Betrayal of the Inuit People
by Kenn Harper Kevin SpaceyA true story from the great age of Arctic exploration of an Inuit boy's struggle for dignity against Robert Peary and the American Museum of Natural History in turn-of-the-century New York City.Sailing aboard a ship called Hope in 1897, celebrated Arctic explorer Robert Peary entered New York Harbor with peculiar "cargo": Six Polar Inuit intended to serve as live "specimens" at the American Museum of Natural History. Four died within a year. One managed to gain passage back to Greenland. Only the sixth, a boy of six or seven with a precociously solemn smile, remained. His name was Minik.Although Harper's unflinching narrative provides a much needed corrective to history's understanding of Peary, who was known among the Polar Inuit as "the great tormenter", it is primarily a story about a boy, Minik Wallace, known to the American public as "The New York Eskimo." Orphaned when his father died of pneumonia, Minik never surrendered the hope of going "home," never stopped fighting for the dignity of his father's memory, and never gave up his belief that people would come to his aid if only he could get them to understand.
Minima Moralia: Reflections From Damaged Life
by Theodor AdornoA reflection on everyday existence in the ‘sphere of consumption of late Capitalism’, this work is Adorno’s literary and philosophical masterpiece. Built from aphorisms and reflections, he shifts in register from personal experience to the most general theoretical problems.
Minima Moralia: Reflections On A Damaged Life (Radical Thinkers #Vol. 1)
by Theodor AdornoA reflection on everyday existence in the ‘sphere of consumption of late Capitalism’, this work is Adorno’s literary and philosophical masterpiece. Built from aphorisms and reflections, he shifts in register from personal experience to the most general theoretical problems.
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
by Theodor W. Adorno E. F. N. JephcottA reflection on everyday existence in the 'sphere of consumption of late Capitalism', this work is Adorno's literary and philosophical masterpiece.
Minimal Cooperation and Shared Agency (Studies in the Philosophy of Sociality #11)
by Anika FiebichThis volume examines minimality in cooperation and shared agency from various angles. It features essays written by top scholars in the philosophy of mind and action. Taken together, the essays provide a genuine contribution to the contemporary joint action debate.The main accounts in this debate present sufficient rather than necessary or minimal criteria for there to be cooperation. Much discussion in the debate deals with robust rather than more attenuate and simple cases of cooperation or shared agency. Focusing on such minimal cases, however, may help to explain how cooperation comes into existence and how minimal cooperation interrelates with more complex cases of cooperation. The contributors discuss minimality in cooperation by focusing on particular aspects. For example, they consider how social roles might deliver minimal cooperation constraints or what the minimal contextual criteria are for cooperation to emerge.Readers will find the answers to these and other questions: What is minimally cooperative behavior? By what steps could full members of a society organized by conventions, norms and institutions be constructed from creatures with minimal social skills and cognitive abilities? What do we experience of actions when we act together with a purpose?
Minimal Theologies: Critiques of Secular Reason in Adorno and Levinas
by Hent de VriesOriginally published in in 2004. What, at this historical moment "after Auschwitz," still remains of the questions traditionally asked by theology? What now is theology's minimal degree? This magisterial study, the first extended comparison of the writings of Theodor W. Adorno and Emmanuel Levinas, explores remnants and echoes of religious forms in these thinkers' critiques of secular reason, finding in the work of both a "theology in pianissimo" constituted by the trace of a transcendent other. The author analyzes, systematizes, and formalizes this idea of an other of reason. In addition, he frames these thinkers' innovative projects within the arguments of such intellectual heirs as Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida, defending their work against later accusations of "performative contradiction" (by Habermas) or "empiricism" (by Derrida) and in the process casting important new light on those later writers as well. Attentive to rhetorical and rational features of Adorno's and Levinas's texts, his investigations of the concepts of history, subjectivity, and language in their writings provide a radical interpretation of their paradoxical modes of thought and reveal remarkable and hitherto unsuspected parallels between their philosophical methods, parallels that amount to a plausible way of overcoming certain impasses in contemporary philosophical thinking. In Adorno, this takes the form of a dialectical critique of dialectics; in Levinas, that of a phenomenological critique of phenomenology, each of which sheds new light on ancient and modern questions of metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. For the English-language publication, the author has extensively revised and updated the prize-winning German version.
Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right
by Scott M. ColeyScott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right&’s propaganda—and how Christians can resist it. Good evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it&’s always been this way. That means the propaganda is working. Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics in Ministers of Propaganda. This timely volume unravels rhetoric and biblical prooftexting that support Christo-authoritarianism: an ideology that presses Christian theology into the service of authoritarian politics. Coley&’s historically informed argument unsettles evangelical orthodoxy on issues like creation science or female leadership—convictions not as unchanging as powerful religious leaders would have us believe. Coley explains that we buy into propaganda because of motivated reasoning, and when we are motivated by perceived self-interest, the Christian message is easily corrupted. But if we recover Jesus&’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, right-wing propaganda will lose its power. Any reader troubled by American evangelicals&’ embrace of racism, misogyny, and other unchristian views will find answers and hope in these pages.