In Critical Condition: Polemical Essays on Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind (Representation and Mind) [Hardcover]

Jerry A. Fodor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998 | ISBN-10: 0262061988 | ISBN-13: 978-0262061988

Doing philosophy, according to Jerry Fodor, is like piloting: the trick is to find an object of known position and locate yourself with respect to it. In this book, Fodor constrasts his views about the mind with those of a number of well-known philosophers and cognitive scientists, including John McDowell, Christopher Peacocke, Paul Churchland, Daniel Dennett, Paul Smolensky and Richard Dawkins. Several of these essays are published here for the first time. The rest originated as book reviews in the "Times Literary Supplement", the "London Review of Books" or in journals of philosophy or psychology. The topics examined include cognitive architecture, the nature of concepts, and the status of Darwinism in psychology. Fodor constructs a version of the representational theory of mind that blends intentional realism, computational reductionism, nativism and semantic atomism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"These wonderfully written and frequently profound essays represent Fodor at his critical, iconoclastic and humorous best—and it's pretty hard to get much better than that." Stephen Schiffer, Department of Philosophy, New York University

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jerry Fodor is Professor in the Department of Philosophy and at the Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University. His most recent books with The MIT Press are The Elm and the Expert: Mentalese and Its Semantics, A Theory of Content and Other Essays, and Psychosemantics: The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 219 pages
• Publisher: Mit Pr (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262061988
• ISBN-13: 978-0262061988
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,555,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars must-read, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Critical Condition: Polemical Essays on Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind (Representation and Mind) (Hardcover)

For a collections of reviews this book is outrageously entertaining, showing that, in many ways, Fodor is at his very best when he directs a critical gaze at the work of others. Very few academics write honestly, but Fodor does, and with great dramatic effect and a distinct voice. I myself disagree with him on many points, but his slaying of many monsters (and pseudomonsters who label themselves "cognitive scientists")is a timely effort. By the way, from personal experience I know that some of those criticized in this volume were badly hurt indeed, and speak of Fodor with intense hatred. This, if anything, shows the force of Fodor's arguments.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Putting ideas in critical condition, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: In Critical Condition: Polemical Essays on Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind (Representation and Mind) (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book immensely. Although I disagree with Fodor on a number of points, his clarity and candor allow one to see where his viewpoints might diverge from yours. In addition, his style is so irreverent that it makes him the most exciting scientific writer I have encountered. The opening of the review of Paul Churchland's book was priceless.

7 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More Mindlessness from Fodor, December 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Critical Condition: Polemical Essays on Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind (Representation and Mind) (Hardcover)

Fodor once again proves that he has no new ideas and should retire. Better minds, scientific minds, will succeed where Fodor always fails. The most non-cognitive of nonsense.