Furnishing the Mind: Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis

摘要: Western philosophy has long been divided between empiricists, who argue that human understanding its basis in experience, and rationalists, reason is the source of knowledge. A central issue debate nature concepts, internal representations we use to think about world. The traditional empiricist thesis concepts are built up from sensory input fallen out favor. Mainstream cognitive science tends echo rationalist tradition, with emphasis on innateness. In Furnishing Mind, Jesse Prinz attempts swing pendulum back toward empiricism. provides a critical survey leading theories including imagism, definitionism, prototype theory, exemplar theory informational atomism. He sets forth new defense concept empiricism draws philosophy, neuroscience, psychology introduces version called proxytype theory. also accounts abstract intentionality, narrow content, combination. an extended discussion innateness, he covers Noam Chomsky's arguments for innateness grammar, developmental psychologists' innate domains, Jerry Fodor's argument radical nativism.