Mind, Language, and Society: Philosophy in the Real World

Author: (USA) John Searle
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: John Searle (1932-) is a highly influential contemporary American analytical philosopher, renowned for his research on the philosophy of language and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This book is a concise and accessible philosophical work, but it is neither an overview of various philosophical problems nor a brief history of them. Rather, it is an important philosophical work summarizing Searle's research over more than 40 years. The book analyzes the structural characteristics of the mind, language, and social reality, as well as their logical interdependencies, and elucidates how they are integrated. Contemporary American and British analytical and linguistic philosophy often focuses narrowly on propositions and words, neglecting fundamental philosophical questions. Searle applies the perspective of the philosophy of language to the study of the mind-body problem, bringing the philosophy of language back to the core issues of traditional philosophy. Moreover, in this book, Searle incorporates research from modern science, particularly neurophysiology, neurobiology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, as well as economics and sociology, enriching the theoretical discussions and significantly breaking through the traditional framework of analytical philosophy.