Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind - Softcover

This is a collection of previously published papers. It is a pleasure to see them reedited, updated, and available under one cover at an accessible paperback price....Devoted followers of QUinian empiricism and naturalist methodology...will find much in this work to enjoy and applaud. Opponents will find much to disturb and trouble them. All will be stimulated. (Review of Metaphysics)

Gilbert Harman presents a selection of fifteen interconnected essays on fundamental issues at the centre of analytic philosophy. The book opens with a group of four essays discussing basic principles of reasoning and rationality. The next three essays argue against the idea that certain claims are true by virtue of meaning and knowable by virtue of meaning. In the third group of essays Harman sets out his own view of meaning, arguing that it depends upon the functioning of concepts in reasoning, perception, and action, by which these concepts are related to the world. He also examines the relation between language and thought. The final three essays investigate the nature of mind, developing further the themes already set out. Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind offers an integrated presentation of this rich and influential body of work.