Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind

Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind PDF Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521338271
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
A study in the philosophy of science, proposing a strong form of the doctrine of scientific realism' and developing its implications for issues in the philosophy of mind.

Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind

Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind PDF Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521338271
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
A study in the philosophy of science, proposing a strong form of the doctrine of scientific realism' and developing its implications for issues in the philosophy of mind.

A Neurocomputational Perspective

A Neurocomputational Perspective PDF Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531061
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
"A Bradford book."Includes index. Bibliography: p. [305]-313.

Resisting Scientific Realism

Resisting Scientific Realism PDF Author: K. Brad Wray
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108415210
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
Provides a spirited defence of anti-realism in philosophy of science. Shows the historical evidence and logical challenges facing scientific realism.

Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science

Scientific Realism and the Rationality of Science PDF Author: Howard Sankey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317058801
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Scientific realism is the position that the aim of science is to advance on truth and increase knowledge about observable and unobservable aspects of the mind-independent world which we inhabit. This book articulates and defends that position. In presenting a clear formulation and addressing the major arguments for scientific realism Sankey appeals to philosophers beyond the community of, typically Anglo-American, analytic philosophers of science to appreciate and understand the doctrine. The book emphasizes the epistemological aspects of scientific realism and contains an original solution to the problem of induction that rests on an appeal to the principle of uniformity of nature.

Matter and Consciousness

Matter and Consciousness PDF Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530743
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"

Understanding Philosophy of Science

Understanding Philosophy of Science PDF Author: James Ladyman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134597908
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Few can imagine a world without telephones or televisions; many depend on computers and the Internet as part of daily life. Without scientific theory, these developments would not have been possible. In this exceptionally clear and engaging introduction to philosophy of science, James Ladyman explores the philosophical questions that arise when we reflect on the nature of the scientific method and the knowledge it produces. He discusses whether fundamental philosophical questions about knowledge and reality might be answered by science, and considers in detail the debate between realists and antirealists about the extent of scientific knowledge. Along the way, central topics in philosophy of science, such as the demarcation of science from non-science, induction, confirmation and falsification, the relationship between theory and observation and relativism are all addressed. Important and complex current debates over underdetermination, inference to the best explaination and the implications of radical theory change are clarified and clearly explained for those new to the subject.

Representation Reconsidered

Representation Reconsidered PDF Author: William M. Ramsey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521859875
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
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The Multiple Realization Book

The Multiple Realization Book PDF Author: Thomas W. Polger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198732899
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Thomas W. Polger and Lawrence A. Shapiro offer the first full investigation of multiple realization--the idea that minds can be realized in ways other than the human brain. They cast doubt on the hypothesis and offer an alternative framework for understanding explanations in the cognitive sciences, and in chemistry, biology, and related fields.

The Mind and the Brain

The Mind and the Brain PDF Author: Jeffrey M. Schwartz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0061961981
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
A leading researcher in brain dysfunction and a "Wall Street Journal" science writer demonstrate that the human mind is an independent entity that can shape and control the physical brain.

The Presence of Mind

The Presence of Mind PDF Author: Daniel D. Hutto
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027251371
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Will our everyday account of ourselves be vindicated by a new science? Or, will our self-understanding remain untouched by such developments? This book argues that beliefs and desires have a legitimate place in theexplanation of action. Eliminativist arguments mistakenly focus on the vehicles of content not content itself. This book asks whether a naturalistic theory of content is possible. It is argued that a modest biosemantic theory of intentional, but nonconceptual, content is the naturalist's best bet. A theory of this kind complements connectionism and recent work on embodied and embedded cognition. But intentional content is not equivalent to propositional content. In order to understand propositional content we must rely on Davidsonian radical interpretation.However, radical interpretation is shown to be at odds with physicalism. But if the best naturalised theory of content we are likely to get from cognitive science is only a theory of intentional content, then a naturalistic explanation of scientific theorising is not possible. It is concluded that cognitive science alone cannot explain the nature of our minds and that eliminativism is intellectually incoherent. (Series A)