Description

John McDowell's "minimal empiricism" is one of the most influential and widely discussed doctrines in contemporary philosophy. Richard Gaskin subjects it to careful examination and criticism, arguing that it has unacceptable consequences, and in particular that it mistakenly rules out something we all know to be the case: that infants and non-human animals experience a world. Gaskin traces the errors in McDowell's empiricism to their source, and presents his own, still more minimal, version of empiricism, suggesting that a correct philosophy of language requires us to recognize a sense in which the world we experience speaks its own language.

Features

• Severe critique of one of the most influential philosophers of today
• Clarifies the content and implications of McDowell's views
• Proposes a new kind of empiricism in the place of McDowell's
• Relevant to anyone working in the central areas of philosophy

Reviews

"Gaskin has thought hard about a range of challenging topics--perception, content, knowledge, singular thought, reference--and he has insightful and suggestive things to say about them. The book repays close reading."--Jason Bridges, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Product Details

272 pages; ISBN13: 978-0-19-928725-3ISBN10: 0-19-928725-2

About the Author(s)