|
Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Sociolinguistics
|
Buy Now
A Refutation of Positivism in Philosophy of Mind - Thinking, Reality, and Language (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R4,457
Discovery Miles 44 570
|
|
|
A Refutation of Positivism in Philosophy of Mind - Thinking, Reality, and Language (Hardcover)
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
|
This book argues that positivism, though now the dominant paradigm
for both the natural and the human sciences, is intrinsically unfit
for the latter. In particular, it is unfit for linguistics and
cognitive science, where it is ultimately self-destructive, since
it fails to account for causality, while the mind, the primary
object of research of the human sciences, cannot be understood
unless considered to be an autonomous causal force. Author Pieter
Albertus Maria Seuren, who died shortly after this manuscript was
finished and after a remarkable career, reviews the history of this
issue since the seventeenth century. He focuses on Descartes,
Leibniz, British Empiricism and Kant, arguing that neither
cognition nor language can be adequately accounted for unless the
mind is given its full due. This implies that a distinction must be
made—following Alexius Meinong, but against Russell and
Quine—between actual and virtual reality. The latter is a product
of the causally active mind and a necessary ingredient for the
setting up of mental models, without which neither cognition nor
language can function. Mental models are coherent sets of
propositions, and can be wholly or partially true or false.
Positivism rules out mental models, blocking any serious semantics
and thereby reducing both language and cognition to caricatures of
themselves. Seuren presents a causal theory of meaning, linking up
language with cognition and solving the old question of what
meaning actually amounts to. Key Features: Provides a fundamental
reassessment of the methodology of the humanities Makes a
distinctive contribution to the conceptual foundations of
linguistics and philosophy of mind Explores the philosophical and
historical origins of central developments in the human sciences in
the past 100 years Offers a new approach to ontology and
epistemology in the scientific study of the creative human mind and
its products.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
You might also like..
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
