Representation and Reality (Representation and Mind) [Paperback]

Hilary Putnam (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262660741 | ISBN-13: 978-0262660747 | Publication Date: August 28, 1991

Hilary Putnam, who may have been the first philosopher to advance the notion that the computer is an apt model for the mind, takes a radically new view of his own theory of functionalism in this book. Putnam argues that in fact the computational analogy cannot answer the important questions about the nature of such mental states as belief, reasoning, rationality, and knowledge that lie at the heart of the philosophy of mind.Hilary Putnam is Walter Beverly Pearson Professor of Mathematical Logic at Harvard University.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

$19.95. phil Putnam here revises the functionalist view of mind that he formerly espoused. He retains the belief that, in principle, a machine and a person can work the same way when described at the relevant level of abstraction, yet he disavows the belief that mental states are functional statesthough granting that the former emerge from and may supervene upon the latter. Among the theses offered are that the criterion for sameness of meaning is actual interpretation practice; that mental states cannot be programs; that we cannot have a scientific theory of intentional phenomena; and that even if there were a kind of equivalence in the structure of computational states of physically possible organisms who share a belief, we could not define the equivalence. An important work in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind. Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

" Representation and Reality is one of the most thorough and careful criticisms of reductionism in the philosophy of mind that we have yet seen, and all future discussions of the computerhuman analogy will have to take account of it." Richard Rorty, University of Virginia

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book (August 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262660741
• ISBN-13: 978-0262660747
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,656,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's okay, March 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Representation and Reality (Hardcover)

"Representation and Reality" is very much a work by the "later Putnam", a guy who, for better or worse, is nowhere near as influential in the philosophy of mind as the "middle Putnam" was, the Putnam of the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the views presented here are sort of interesting as you go through them, but I find that nothing by the later Putnam ever ends up really staying with me or substantially altering my picture of things. It's pleasant enough to read, but the experience is surprisingly junk-foodish (to the extent this is possible in analytic philosophy). Bottom line: if you're interested in the career trajectory of perhaps the greatest living American philosopher or in hearing some wide-ranging objections to certain central elements of contemporary philosophy of mind, this may be the book for you. However, "Representation and Reality" has neither been unfluential enough nor is it convincing enough for me to recommend it highly.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, October 24, 2011

By 

Daniel Brockert (Tucson, Az United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Representation and Reality (Representation and Mind) (Paperback)

After reading Chomsky and Fodor's work on language for the past few years, I found this book to be a breath of fresh air. His arguments are sophisticated, but his writing is clear and commonsensical. Being relatively new to philosophy, I found he was easier to understand than Jerry Fodor. For those interested in language and mind I definitely recommend this book.

34 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The End of Functionalism, April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Representation and Reality (Representation and Mind) (Paperback)

In Representation and Reality, Putnam begins with Aristotle's definition of "mental", Quine's idea of the corporate nature of theories, and weaves a philosophic record that is stunningly reminiscent of Martha Stewart's new handbook of hors d'oeurves. Yes, the jig is up: what Putnam is really after here is to define what exactly makes a good cream puff and his argument is complete with a lemma that weighs the pros and cons of custard vs. whipped cream filling. Modern analytic philosophy is really a boring topic and one isn't surprised that Putnam really avoids such issues as whether or not language is a game with rules or really a television program that will soon be cancelled if ratings don't go up. This is what Putnam sees as the influence of the environment on the meaning of words and the the meaning of "meaning" (it's not spoiling the plot to tell you that "meaning" is also a word that is used in the English language; however, when I've asked people who only speak Mandarin Chinese if they know the meaning of "meaning", they usually just give me a blank look. Obviously this is a topic that needs to be ironed out). Yet, it isn't until the last chapter that Putman throws down the gauntlet, spills the beans, and reveals that his whole philosophic endeavor, or journey, is one vast voyage to discover the perfect guacamole dip (his idea of adding Ketalar as well as lime will no doubt raise a few eyebrows, but, let me assure you, I've mixed up a batch and it's very tasty). Finally, his critique of Fodor, while well-intentioned, is sure to remain incomprehesible to the vast majority of nonphilosophers who are certain that their brain is really a soft substance inside their skull that thinks and is conscious, and is not, as Fodor argues, a pilfered pack of cigarettes deftly taken from a fast food store when the clerk wasn't looking. While you need to know a lot about contemporary analytic philosophy to understand this book, you need to know very little of this same subject to leave it alone. Brilliant!