Functional Psychology and the Philosophy of Mind

This book is about language, mind and consciousness. It traces lines of relevance from the philosophy of language to the philosophy of mind, and focuses on central contributors to disciplines of the cognitive sciences. Philosophers receiving particular attention include W.V. Quine, Donald Davidson, Hilary Putnam, Daniel Dennett and Jerry Fodor. The book is of special interest for professionals and university students in the philosophy of mind and language, and for those engaged with the concept of linguistic meaning, the philosophy of psychology, cognitive psychology and closely related fields. The organizing theme is a contextual approach to linguistic meaning and mental contents which builds on the early functional and structural psychology of William James and his students. The book anticipates a contemporary revival of central themes from Jamesian functional psychology. The French cognitive psychologist Stanislas Dehaene is featured to illustrate something of the scope of the revival.