Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind [Paperback]

Wilfrid Sellars (Author), Richard Rorty (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674251555 | ISBN-13: 978-0674251557 | Publication Date: March 25, 1997

The most important work by one of America's greatest twentieth-century philosophers, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind is both the epitome of Wilfrid Sellars' entire philosophical system and a key document in the history of philosophy. First published in essay form in 1956, it helped bring about a sea change in analytic philosophy. It broke the link, which had bound Russell and Ayer to Locke and Hume--the doctrine of "knowledge by acquaintance." Sellars' attack on the Myth of the Given in Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind was a decisive move in turning analytic philosophy away from the foundationalist motives of the logical empiricists and raised doubts about the very idea of "epistemology."

With an introduction by Richard Rorty to situate the work within the history of recent philosophy, and with a study guide by Robert Brandom, this publication of Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind makes a difficult but indisputably significant figure in the development of analytic philosophy clear and comprehensible to anyone who would understand that philosophy or its history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wilfrid Sellars (1912-1989) graduated from the University of Michigan in 1933. He taught at Iowa, Minnesota, and Yale, and was University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh from 1963 until his death. His works include Science and Metaphysics (1968) and Science, Perception, and Reality (1963).

Richard Rorty is Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He is the author of the landmark works Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature; Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity; and The Consequences of Pragmatism.

Robert B. Brandom is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (March 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674251555
• ISBN-13: 978-0674251557
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and rewarding, August 6, 2002

By 

Brian C. Holly "Brian" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (Paperback)

I have come back to this essay by Sellars again and again for over thirty years, and have never failed to impressed and inspired. Sellars can always get me to think at a deeper level than I'm used to. Second only perhaps to Wittgenstein in influence, Sellars is a philosopher's philosopher: understanding him requires a thorough grounding in the history of philosophy, and this essay in particular takes it for granted that you understand 20th century empricism and "sense data" theories pretty well. Even so, the writing style can be both dense and difficult, but reading it aloud can untangle any number of tricky passages. If you're not quite so well versed in history of philosophy, a similar critique can be found in J.L. Austin's "Sense and Sensibilia," which is more accessible but not nearly as profound. In the course of showing the futility of finding incorrigibile foundations for empirical knowledge in sense experience, Sellars simultaneously develops a strictly behavioristic psychology that legitimizes all the goodies, all the mental vocabulary, that folks like Skinner forbade. A tour de force unequalled in 80 years. Bob Brandom's explicatory essay is very helpful, and untwists several tricky knots in the text.

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cave!, August 8, 2000

By 

Zeno of Citium (Regensburg/Deutschland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (Paperback)

I do not understand why it is always said that Sellars' language was so difficult. I found his philosophical style quite straight-on. Unfortunately, Sellars' main work is punctuated by some passages of superficial and/or incorrect reasoning, at which passages some may assume that they do not understand Sellars' argumentation - though it "has to be profound" (because of Sellars' reputation). The most important issue in this essay is the impossibility of reporting sense impressions without using language (with all implications that come along with that), and the repercussions of this circumstance on the philosophy of logical empiricism in its early stage (though Sellars obviously thinks his ideas impact on all forms of empiricism, which is not true). Along that line, Sellars has many good points that should be considered in the philosophy of science and in common sense reasoning, yet his reputed final dismantling of the "myth" of the given never takes place; in Sellars intentions, maybe, but his arguments are a far cry from being a stringent refutation. They are simply too superficial and too colloquial for that. (Cf. Putnam's model-theoretic arguments against realism, for a contrast.) What is really unfortunate for Sellars' essay is that, in this edition, it is framed by Rorty and Brandom. The philosophical humorist Rorty has contributed a foreword in an attempt to assimilate Sellars serious philosophical project into his radical-relativist historicizing outlook of philosophy, thus completely misleading the unknowing reader. The bright, but misguided, Brandom offers a study guide, which is no study guide, but an attempt to direct the reader at those aspects of Sellars' essay, which Brandom's own inferentialist philosophy is supposed to stem from. Unfortunately, these aspects are exactly the most questionable. So, while Sellars' essay is a profitable classic of analytic philosophy, the reader should be warned to read Rorty's foreword and Brandom's study guide cautiously and critically and to thoroughly consider, if these really reflect Sellars' essay correctly.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep, difficult, essential, June 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (Paperback)

"Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind" is an essential epistemological text of the twentieth century. It is difficult: each sentence is difficult. Sellars is said to have shown the existence of a private language by writing in one. The guide by Brandom does not much clarify and simplify the argument of Sellars for two reasons. It is impossible to do this. And Brandom wants to and does contribute significantly to Sellars scholarship. Sellars writes for the professional philosopher. If you plan to be such, or if you want to encounter philosophy at its most profound, you should study the book.