Empiricism And The Philosophy Of Mind (orig Pub In Minnesota Studies In The Philosophy Of Science, Vol 1, Ed. Herbert Feigl, 1956)

The most important work by one of America's greatest twentieth-century philosophers, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind is both the epitome of Wilfrid Sellars' entire philosophical system and a key document in the history of philosophy. First published in essay form in 1956, it helped bring about a sea change in analytic philosophy. It broke the link, which had bound Russell and Ayer to Locke and Hume—the doctrine of "knowledge by acquaintance." Sellars' attack on the Myth of the Given in Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind was a decisive move in turning analytic philosophy away from the foundationalist motives of the logical empiricists and raised doubts about the very idea of "epistemology." With an introduction by Richard Rorty to situate the work within the history of recent philosophy, and with a study guide by Robert Brandom, this publication of Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind makes a difficult but indisputably significant figure in the development of analytic philosophy clear and comprehensible to anyone who would understand that philosophy or its history. Contents 3 Introduction by Richard Rorty 5 I. An Ambiguity in Sense-Datum Theories 17 II. Another Language? 29 III. The Logic of 'Looks’ 36 IV. Explaining Looks 50 V. Impressions and Ideas: A Logical Point 57 VI. Impressions and Ideas: A Historical Point 61 VII. The Logic of 'Means' 68 VIII. Does Empirical Knowledge Have a Foundation? 72 IX. Science and Ordinary Usage 83 X. Private Episodes: The Problem 89 XI. Thoughts: The Classical View 92 XII. Our Rylean Ancestors 94 XIII. Theories and Models 98 XIV. Methodological versus Philosophical Behaviorism 102 XV. The Logic of Private Episodes: Thoughts 106 XVI. The Logic of Private Episodes: Impressions 111 References 121 Study Guide by Robert B. Brandom 123 Part I [!]-[/] An Ambiguity in Sense-Datum Theories 124 Part II [8H9] Another Language? 135 Part III [10] [ZO] The Logic of 'Looks' 138 Part IV [ZI]-[Z3] Explaining Looks 151 Part V [ZA]-[25] Impressions and Ideas: A Logical Point 153 Part VI [Z6]-[Z9] Impressions and Ideas: A Historical Point 153 Part VII [30] [31] The Logic of 'Means' 155 Part VIII [3Z]-[38] Does Empirical Knowledge Have a Foundation? 156 Part IX m-m Science and Ordinary Usage 166 Part X m Private Episodes: The Problem 170 Part XI m-[U] Thoughts: The Classical View 174 Part XII [48]-[50] Our Rylean Ancestors 175 Part XIII [5I]-[5Z] Theories and Models 177 Part XIV [53]-[55] Methodological versus Philosophical Behaviorism 178 Part XV [56]-[59] The Logic of Private Episodes: Thoughts 179 Port XVI [60]-[63] The Logic of Private Episodes: Impressions 181 Philosophy,Metaphysics First published in essay form in 1956, it helped bring about a sea change in analytic philosophy. It broke the link, which had bound Russell and Ayer to Locke and Hume—the doctrine of “knowledge by acquaintance.” Sellars’s attack on the Myth of the Given in Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind was a decisive move in turning analytic philosophy away from the foundationalist motives of the logical empiricists and raised doubts about the very idea of “epistemology.” With an introduction by Richard Rorty to situate the work within the history of recent philosophy, and with a study guide by Robert Brandom, this publication of Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind makes a difficult but indisputably significant figure in the development of analytic philosophy clear and comprehensible to anyone who would understand that philosophy or its history. First published in essay form in 1956, this book presents Sellars' entire philosophical system and his attack on the Myth of the Given, which raised doubts about the very idea of "epistemology". An introduction situates the work within the history of recent philosophy