What do you think?
Rate this book
Wittgenstein and Contemporary Philosophy of Mind
Each essay in this volume discusses some prevalent views in contemporary philosophy of mind by confronting them with Wittgensteinian ideas. Part One addresses the views of Quine and Dennett, including functionalism, eliminative materialism and the current debate about consciousness. Part Two assembles essays that focus each on one particular psychological concept, namely thinking, imagining, sensation, knowledge and reason.
236 pages, Hardcover
Published January 11, 2001
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 17, 2025
This book made me realize how dense and diverse the literature on Wittgestein's understanding of mind and psychology in philosophy. It also made me realize how Wittgenstein and Wittgenstenians,or at least philosophers who are influenced by his works, are different from each other.
It is not easy to understand Wittgenstein but the reason, I believe, is that each sentence represents a deep reflections and observations on the issues in philosophy. It is in a sense in the form of diary to himself but explained a bit further for those who may wonder about his thoughts. One may make an analogy between his sentences and those of Nietzsche in this context.
On the other hand, it is not easy to understand Wittgenstenians either. However, I doubt this is because there is any geniune truth or thinking in it. Even if there is, it is likely that they are lost in all irrelevant or unnecessary connections, arguments, citation to other philosophers.
Of course, all these thoughts may be project my prejudice against the current situation of academic philosophy. However, there is no doubt that Wittgenstein was not an academic philosopher in the current understanding. He did not publish a book or paper during his time in Cambridge. He handed Tractatus as a PhD thesis to his friends (Russell and Moore).
Thus, I want to spend less time on what is written on Wittgenstein or his ideas in 21th century but his works themselves.
It is not easy to understand Wittgenstein but the reason, I believe, is that each sentence represents a deep reflections and observations on the issues in philosophy. It is in a sense in the form of diary to himself but explained a bit further for those who may wonder about his thoughts. One may make an analogy between his sentences and those of Nietzsche in this context.
On the other hand, it is not easy to understand Wittgenstenians either. However, I doubt this is because there is any geniune truth or thinking in it. Even if there is, it is likely that they are lost in all irrelevant or unnecessary connections, arguments, citation to other philosophers.
Of course, all these thoughts may be project my prejudice against the current situation of academic philosophy. However, there is no doubt that Wittgenstein was not an academic philosopher in the current understanding. He did not publish a book or paper during his time in Cambridge. He handed Tractatus as a PhD thesis to his friends (Russell and Moore).
Thus, I want to spend less time on what is written on Wittgenstein or his ideas in 21th century but his works themselves.
Displaying 1 of 1 review