Furnishing the Mind: Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis (Representation and Mind series) [Paperback]

Jesse J. Prinz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262661853 | ISBN-13: 978-0262661850 | Publication Date: August 20, 2004 | Edition: New Ed

Western philosophy has long been divided between empiricists, who argue that human understanding has its basis in experience, and rationalists, who argue that reason is the source of knowledge. A central issue in the debate is the nature of concepts, the internal representations we use to think about the world. The traditional empiricist thesis that concepts are built up from sensory input has fallen out of favor. Mainstream cognitive science tends to echo the rationalist tradition, with its emphasis on innateness. In Furnishing the Mind, Jesse Prinz attempts to swing the pendulum back toward empiricism.Prinz provides a critical survey of leading theories of concepts, including imagism, definitionism, prototype theory, exemplar theory, the theory theory, and informational atomism. He sets forth a new defense of concept empiricism that draws on philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology and introduces a new version of concept empiricism called proxytype theory. He also provides accounts of abstract concepts, intentionality, narrow content, and concept combination. In an extended discussion of innateness, he covers Noam Chomsky's arguments for the innateness of grammar, developmental psychologists' arguments for innate cognitive domains, and Jerry Fodor's argument for radical concept nativism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Prinz's discussions...provide a clear overview of the field, both in philosophy and psychology." S.W. Horst Choice

"Furnishing the Mind is a spirited and ingenious defense of concept empiricism. Prinz tackles the philosophical objections head-on and makes superb use of the psychological literature on concept acquisition and categorization. This book will be read with great profit by philosophers and psychologists concerned with the nature of concepts."--José Luis Bermudez, Professor of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis

"Furnishing the Mind is the most important work on concepts to have been written since Locke's Essay. It explains what Locke saw to be true but was unable satisfactorily to articulate: that concepts are constructs out of lower-level perceptual representations. The marriage of Classical empiricism with a causal theory of reference is the core of what Prinz proposes and skillfully defends in this remarkable book. He has done us all a huge service by showing how what we all knew must be right (viz, empiricism about concepts) could be right after all."--Fiona Cowie, Department of Philosophy, California Institute of TechnologyPlease note: "Essay" should be italicized. Endorser gives permission to excerpt from quote.

"This breezily written book carries you on a whirlwind tour of old theories, then lifts you on a sustained gust of fresh air. Prinz's proxytypes are the key to an ingenious new Lockean theory of concepts."--Kent Bach, Professor of Philosophy, San Francisco State University

About the Author

Jesse J. Prinz is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book; New Ed edition (August 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262661853
• ISBN-13: 978-0262661850
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An important step towards a comprehensive theory of concepts, January 5, 2003

By 

Brandon N. Towl (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Furnishing the Mind: Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis (Representation and Mind) (Hardcover)

Prinz's book is an intriguing blend of traditional philsophy and up-to-date cognitive science. His main argument is that concepts are basically "copies" of perceptual experiences, bound together in long-term memory and accessed by working memory during thought. Prinz argues that, instead of assuming a "common code", cognitive science should view the mind as a "multi-media machine" that uses a diverse array of codes specific to sense modalities. Along the way, he argues against concept nativism, expands on what perceptional experiences are, and elucidates possible mechanisms for concept acquisition and combination.
Keep in mind, though, that Prinz's book is fast-paced and assumes a lot of background knowledge. Many of the details that one would have liked are either glossed over or left for future research. And the editor's at MIT press need to do a much better job of proof-reading in the future. But in terms of setting up a new research program and arguing forcfully for it, Prinz's book does the job. This book should get a lot of reaction in years to come.