Gray Matters is a thorough examination of the main topics in recent philosophy of mind. It aims at surveying a broad range of issues, not all of which can be subsumed under one position or one philosopher's theory. In this way, the authors avoid neglecting interesting issues out of allegiance to a given theory of mind.

Gray Matters is a thorough examination of the main topics in recent philosophy of mind. It aims at surveying a broad range of issues, not all of which can be subsumed under one position or one philosopher's theory. In this way, the authors avoid neglecting interesting issues out of allegiance to a given theory of mind.

In 1975 Harvard philosopher Hilary Putnam published a paper called "The Meaning of 'Meaning'", in which he challenged orthodox views in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind. The article's Twin Earth thought experiment was simple, but the philosophical conclusions deriving from it - about the nature of meaning and reference, of thoughts, of knowledge - were profound. The philosophical community responded quickly, in full force, and from every possible direction, and has kept it up ever since. Now, on the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Putnam's classic paper, the editors have collected the very best of the writing on the subject of Twin Earth by the leading contemporary philosophers. In addition to reprinting essays by such well-known contemporary philosophers as John Searle, Daniel Dennett, and others, this volume reprints Putnam's original essay and includes a completely new Introduction by Putnam, written expressly for this collection. This volume will acquaint novice philosophers with one of the most important debates in twentieth-century philosophy, and will provide seasoned readers with a useful compendium of writing on essential questions in the philosophies of language and mind.

In 1975, Putnam published a paper called The Meaning of 'Meaning', which challenged the orthodox view in the philosophies of language and mind. The article's Twin Earth conclusions about meaning, thought and knowledge were shocking. This work contains writings on the subject of Twin Earth.