Deconstructing the mind /

During the past two decades, debates over the viability of commonsense psychology have occupied center-stage in both cognitive science and the philosophy of mind. From early childhood onward, we all predict and explain human behavior by invoking mental states like beliefs and desires, but do these f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stich, Stephen P
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Oxford University Press, 1998
Subjects:
Description
Summary:During the past two decades, debates over the viability of commonsense psychology have occupied center-stage in both cognitive science and the philosophy of mind. From early childhood onward, we all predict and explain human behavior by invoking mental states like beliefs and desires, but do these familiar states actually exist?
A group of prominent philosophers known as eliminativists argues that they do not, contending that commonsense mental states are fictions, products of a tacit and deeply flawed "folk" theory of mind that gives a radically mistaken account of mental life
Recent advances in cognitive science and neuroscience, eliminativists maintain, underscore the shortcomings of commonsense psychology and make it very likely that a mature science of the mind/brain will reject commonsense mental states in much the same way that modern chemistry and physics reject caloric fluid and phlogiston. In Deconstructing the Mind, distinguished philosopher Stephen Stich, once a leading advocate of eliminativism, offers a bold and compelling reassessment of this view
Item Description:"Transcribed, proofread, and marked-up in HTML, December 1998"--Bibliographic Data screen
Format:Mode of access: Internet via the World Wide Web
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:0195100816