Wilfrid SellarsWilfrid Sellars (1912-89) has been called "the most profound and systematic epistemological thinker of the twentieth century" (Robert Brandom). He was in many respects ahead of his time, and many of his innovations have become widely acknowledged, for example, his attack on the "myth of the given", his functionalist treatment of intentional states, his proposal that psychological concepts are like theoretical concepts, and his suggestion that attributions of knowledge locate the knower "in the logical space of reasons". However, while many philosophers have begun to acknowledge Sellars's inspiration in their work, their interpretation of his thought has not always been the most accurate. His writings are difficult. Individually, his essays are complex and sometimes rely on doctrines and arguments he put forward elsewhere. Each of his articles is deepened and strengthened by seeing it in its systematic context, but he never wrote a unified exposition of his system, which therefore has to be pieced together from numerous disparate sources. Willem deVries addresses these difficulties specifically and provides a careful reading and remarkable overview of Sellars's systematic philosophy that will become the standard point of reference for all philosophers seeking to understand Sellars's hugely significant body of work. |
Contents
Sellarss philosophical enterprise | 1 |
Sellarss philosophy of language | 23 |
Categories the a priori and transcendental | 57 |
Copyright | |
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absolute processes abstract entities according to Sellars analysis argument assert basic behaviour categorial causal claims coherence coherentism colour commitment complex concepts conceptual framework distinction empirical knowledge Empiricism episodes epistemic epistemology explain expressions fact FMPP formulate foundationalism function given IAMB ideal inductive inference inferential intention intersubjective Jones judgements justify kind language linguistic logical space manifest image meaning mental mentalistic metalanguage metalinguistic Metaphysics Mind-Body Problem modal moral myth nature nominalist normative notion observation reports one's ontological Paradox of Analysis particular Peircean perception Philosophy of Mind physical objects picture predicates principle problem proper sensibles properties propositional knowledge propositions PSIM psychological quantifier realism reason reductive materialism reference relation representational system role rules Ryleans scientific image Scientific Realism seems Sellars thinks Sellars's view semantic sensation sense impressions sensory sentences singular terms statements structure theoretical theory things thought tion truth ultimately University vocabulary Wilfrid Sellars