States of mind: Countering eliminative materialism
Subject
Abstract
This book examines, from a Wittgensteinian perspective, a version of
eliminative materialism formerly propounded by Richard Rorty. The author
argues that this view about the nature and existence of minds and mental
states, which treats them as proto-scientific theoretical entities, is false, and
assumes too crude an understanding of our day-to-day use of mental
language. The author also develops positive conclusions in the philosophy
of mind from a criticism of these underlying assumptions, setting out an
alternative position derived from Wittgenstein's notion of criteria.