Reference and consciousness / John Campbell
- Author:
- Campbell, John, 1956-
- Published:
- Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press Inc., 2002.
- Physical Description:
- vii, 267 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Additional Creators:
- Dummett, Michael, 1925-2011
- Series:
- Oxford cognitive science series
- Contents:
- Experiential highlighting -- What is knowledge of reference? Space and action -- Sortals -- Sense -- The relational view of experience -- The explanatory role of consciousness -- Joint attention -- Memory demonstratives -- The anti-realist alternative -- Indeterminacy and inscrutability -- Dispositional vs. categorical.
- Summary:
- "What explains our ability to refer to the objects we perceive? John Campbell argues that our capacity for reference is explained by our capacity to attend selectively to the objects of which we are aware; that this capacity for conscious attention to a perceived object is what provides us with our knowledge of reference. When someone makes a reference to a perceived object, your knowledge of which thing they are talking about is constituted by your consciously attending to the relevant object. Campbell articulates the connections between these three concepts: reference, attention, and consciousness.
He looks at the metaphysical conception of the environment demanded by such an account, and at the demands imposed on our conception of consciousness by the point that consciousness of objects is what explains our capacity to think about them. He argues that empirical work on the binding problem can illuminate our grasp of the way in which we have knowledge of reference, supplied by conscious attention to the relevant object. Reference and Consciousness illuminates fundamental problems about thought, reference, and experience by looking at the underlying psychological mechanisms on which conscious attention depends. It is an original and stimulating contribution to philosophy and to cognitive science."--Jacket. - Subject(s):
- ISBN:
- 0199243808 (alk. paper)
9780199243808 (alk. paper)
0199243816 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
9780199243815 (pbk. ; alk. paper) - Collection:
- Critical Philosophy of Race.
- Provenance:
- Rare Books copy: From the library of Michael Dummett.
- Note:
- Rare Books copy: Author's presentation inscription to Michael Dummett on front flyleaf: "With warmest good wishes, and deep admiration. John"
- Bibliography Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-263) and index.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Rare Books copy: Purchased with funds from the Hastings Libraries Endowment; 2014.
Rare Books copy: Purchased from Ruddi Thoemmes Rare Books; 2014. - Related Materials:
- Michael Dummett papers, 1956-2012, bulk 1982-2006 (9526) housed at Pennsylvania State University Libraries' Eberly Family Special Collections Library. https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/9526.htm
Ann Dummett papers, 1966-2012, bulk 1976-2012 (9466) housed at Pennsylvania State University Libraries' Eberly Family Special Collections Library. https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/9466.htm
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