Mind and World

Author: (USA) McDowell
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: In discussing empirical thought, McDowell fully argues for a major problem in modern philosophy—the potential dualistic stance. Although we tend to believe that empirical thought is rationally grounded in experience, anyone attempting to clearly articulate this view will encounter unexpected difficulties. McDowell reveals the roots of these difficulties through insightful interpretations of the works of many contemporary philosophers. McDowell believes that these difficulties reflect our failure to see how to incorporate the so-called "logical space of rationality" into the natural world, and the reason for this predicament lies in a natural concept that is attractive to modern society. McDowell argues that abandoning this concept can avoid those philosophical difficulties. By returning to pre-modern natural concepts while retaining the advantages of modern natural concepts, we can view experience as a rational openness to an independent reality, which would be satisfactory. In this way, we can reasonably understand and resolve the question of the mind's place in the world.