John McDowell

Description

John McDowell is one of the most widely read philosophers in recent years. His engagement with a philosophy of language, mind and ethics and with philosophers ranging from Aristotle and Wittgenstein to Hegel and Gadamer make him one of the most original and outstanding philosophical thinkers of the post-war period. In this clear and engaging book, Tim Thornton introduces and examines the full range of McDowell's thought. After a helpful introduction setting out McDowell's general view of philosophy, Thornton introduces and explains the following topics: Wittgenstein on philosophy, normativity and understanding; value judgements; theories of meaning and sense; singular thought and Cartesianism; perceptual experience and knowledge, disjunctivism and openness to the world; Mind and World, the content of perceptual experience and idealism; action and the debate with Hubert Dreyfus on conceptual content and skilled coping. This second edition has been significantly revised and expanded to include new sections on: McDowell's work on disjunctivism and criticisms of it; a new chapter on McDowell's modification of his account of perceptual experience and conceptual content, and criticisms by Charles Travis; and a new chapter on action and McDowell's engagement with Hubert Dreyfus and the debate concerning skilled coping and mindedness. The addition of a glossary and suggestions for further reading makes John McDowell, second edition essential reading for those studying McDowell, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, ethics and epistemology, as well as for students of the recent history of analytical philosophy generally. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction I The Philosophy Of Nature II The nature of philosophy III The structure of the book 1. Wittgenstein on philosophy, normativity and understanding I The background: Wittgenstein on normativity II Opposing interpretations of Wittgenstein III McDowell’s interpretation IV Hearing meaning directly in speech V German Idealism, scheme–content dualism, realism and nature Notes 2. Value judgements I A world of moral and aesthetic features II The grounds of moral judgement and a moral outlook: Aristotle and Kant III The uncodifiability of moral judgement Notes 3. Formal theories of meaning and theories of sense I Davidson and the philosophy of language of the field linguist II Davidson and Tarski III What is the relation between truth and meaning? IV Modest or full-blooded meaning theories? V Is a theory of meaning really a theory of sense? Notes 4. Singular thought and the Cartesian picture of mind I Singular thought in the philosophy of content II The Cartesian picture of mind III Modern versions of the Cartesian picture of mind Notes 5. Experience, knowledge and openness to the world I Knowledge of other minds and a conventional view of criteria II McDowell’s account of criteria III Knowledge and the internal IV Scepticism Conclusions Notes 6. Mind and World and perceptual experience I The role of concepts in experience II The nature of nature III The threat of idealism Conclusion Notes 7. Action, intention and embodied coping I Intention in action II The content of intentions, practical reasoning and self-knowledge III Dreyfus, skilled coping and the myth of the (pervasiveness of the) mental Conclusions 8. Perceptual content after Mind and World I Travis and “The Silence(s) of the Senses” II Travis and “Reason’s Reach” III The nature and content of perceptual experience in Mind and World IV McDowell’s responses to Travis IV McDowell’s modified account of perceptual content V An alternative approach to the harmony of thought and reality Notes 9. Guide to further reading Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Glossary Bibliography Index