Perception, Knowledge and Belief
Selected Essays

This collection of essays by eminent philosopher Fred Dretske brings together work on the theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind spanning thirty years.

Fred Dretske (Author)

9780521777421, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 February 2000

300 pages, 2 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.3 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

'These essays are models of good philosophical writing. they are intricately argued, without ever being tortuous, profound yet without a hint of affectation, and boldly programmatic, while displaying care over details. Above all they are durable contributions to the subject.' Mind

This collection of essays by eminent philosopher Fred Dretske brings together work on the theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind spanning thirty years. The two areas combine to lay the groundwork for a naturalistic philosophy of mind. The fifteen essays focus on perception, knowledge, and consciousness. Together, they show the interconnectedness of Dretske's work in epistemology and his more contemporary ideas on philosophy of mind, shedding light on the links which can be made between the two. The first section of the book argues the point that knowledge consists of beliefs with the right objective connection to facts; two essays discuss this conception of knowledge's implications for naturalism. The next section articulates a view of perception, attempting to distinguish conceptual states from phenomenal states. A naturalized philosophy of mind, and thus a naturalized epistemology, is articulated in the third section. This collection will be a valuable resource for a wide range of philosophers and their students, and will also be of interest to cognitive scientists, psychologists, and philosophers of biology.

Part I. Knowledge: 1. Conclusive reasons
2. Epistemic operators
3. The pragmatic dimension of knowledge
4. The epistemology of belief
5. Two conceptions of knowledge: rational vs. reliable belief
Part II. Perception and Experience: 6. Simple seeing
7. Conscious experience
8. Differences that make no difference
9. The mind's awareness of itself
10. What good is consciousness
Part III. Thought and Intentionality: 11. Putting information to work
12. If you can't make one, you don't know how it works
13. The nature of thought
14. Norms and the constitution of the mental
15. Minds, machines, and money: what really explains behavior.

Subject Areas: Analytical philosophy & Logical Positivism [HPCF5]