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Conceptual Flux

Mental Representation, Misrepresentation, and Concept Change

  • Book
  • © 2000

Overview

Authors:
  1. Mark Perlman

    1. Department of Philosophy, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, USA

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Part of the book series: Studies in Cognitive Systems (COGS, volume 24)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
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  2. Groundwork and Overview of the Project

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 1-50

  3. Verificationism and its Failure to Allow for Error and Misrepresentation

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 51-88

  4. Cognitive Science and the Failure to Allow for Error and Misrepresentation

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 89-149

  5. Content without Misrepresentation: A Pragmatic Theory

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 151-206

  6. Objections and Replies

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 207-252

  7. Analyticity, Compositionality, and Meaning Holism

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 253-285

  8. Varieties of Meaning Holism

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 287-326

  9. Implications of Strict Conceptual Role Theory

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 327-371

  10. Methodological Objections, Nihilism, and (Re)Appraisal

    • Mark Perlman
    Pages 373-405

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 407-437
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Keywords

About this book

How can one think about a thing, think something false about it, and still be thinking about that thing at all? If a concept is applied to something outside its meaning, how are we to say it does not mean that thing as well? The problem of misrepresentation is one of the central issues in contemporary philosophy of mind. Here, Mark Perlman criticizes the way all contemporary theories of mental representation seek to account for misrepresentation, concluding that it cannot be explained naturistically. Specifically, Perlman evaluates and criticizes the theories of mental content proposed by Fodor, Dretske, Millikan, Block, Harman and others, as well as examining verificationist approaches to meaning of Quine, Davidson and Stich.
The book goes much further than criticism, however: Perlman formulates a naturalistic theory of representation that reluctantly accepts the unfortunate conclusion that there is no misrepresentation. He adds a pragmatic theory of content, which explains apparent misrepresentation as concept change. Mental representations can be good or bad in specific contexts and for specific purposes, but their correctness is not a matter of truth and falsity. The pragmatic approach to mental content has implications for epistemology, theories of truth, metaphysics, psychology, and AI (specifically connectionist networks).
Readership: One of the most thorough examinations of mental representation and meaning holism available, this book should be read by everyone interested in the mind and how ideas can have meaning. It crosses boundaries from philosophy into psychology, linguistics, AI and cognitive science.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Philosophy, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, USA

    Mark Perlman

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Conceptual Flux

  • Book Subtitle: Mental Representation, Misrepresentation, and Concept Change

  • Authors: Mark Perlman

  • Series Title: Studies in Cognitive Systems

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9462-2

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2000

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-6215-9Published: 29 February 2000

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-5415-9Published: 07 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-9462-2Published: 17 April 2013

  • Series ISSN: 0924-0780

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIV, 438

  • Topics: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Pragmatism, Artificial Intelligence

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