The Body in Mind: Understanding Cognitive Processes

by Mark Rowlands

Overview

In this book, Mark Rowlands challenges the Cartesian view of the mind as a self-contained monadic entity, and offers in its place a radical externalist or environmentalist model of cognitive processes. Drawing on both evolutionary theory and a detailed examination of the processes involved in perception, memory, thought and language use, Rowlands argues that cognition is, in part, a process whereby creatures manipulate and exploit relevant objects in their environment. This innovative book provides a foundation for an unorthodox but increasingly popular view of the nature of cognition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521652742
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/28/1999
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Philosophy
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.86(h) x 0.83(d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction: 'a picture held us captive'; Part I. Psychotechtonics: 2. Introduction to part I: 'don't work hard, work smart'; 3. Environmentalism and what it is not; 4. Environmentalism and evolution; 5. Perception; 6. Memory; 7. Thought; 8. Language; Part II. Psychosemantics: 9. Introduction to part II: the need for and the place of a theory of representation; 10. Two theories of representation; 11. Environmentalism and teleological semantics; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"His writing is clear, and the position advanced is important for professional psychologists as well as philosophers of mind." Choice

"The book certainly merits atttention. It brings together some very diverse material, bearing on externalism about the mind, and makes use of it in a distinctive way." Philosophical Review

From the Publisher