Philosophy : Epistemology

This book lays new foundations for the study of reference and truth. It explores truth in the light of Noam Chomsky's Minimalist Program and argues that truth is a function of the human mind. It sets out an internalist reconstruction of meaning and explores its outcomes in language and thought. - ;This pioneering book lays new foundations for the study of reference and truth. It seeks to explain the origins and characteristics of human ways of relating to the world by means of an understanding of the inherent structures of the mind. Wolfram Hinzen explores truth in the light of Noam Chomsky's Minimalist Program. Truth, he argues, is a function of the human mind and, in particular, likely presupposes the structure of the human clause. Professor Hinzen begins by setting out the essentials of the Minimalist Program and by considering the explanatory role played by the interfaces of the linguistic system with other cognitive systems. He then sets out an internalist reconstruction of meaning. He argues that meaning stems from concepts, originating not from reference but from intentional relations built up in human acts of language in which such concepts figure. How we refer, he suggests, is a function of the concepts we possess,. rather than the reverse in which reference to the world gives us the concepts to realize it. He concludes with extended accounts of declarative sentences and names, the two aspects of language which seem most inimical to his approach. The book makes important and radical contributions to theory and debate in linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive science. The author frames his argument in a way that will be readily comprehensible to scholars and advanced students in all three disciplines. - ;The book marks a signal step in the evolution of generative grammar and the unification of mind and brain. It should command the attention of linguists, philosophers, psychologists and the field of cognitive science. - Tom Roeper, University of Massa more...

Price: $110.00

This book challenges much of the rhetoric about the role of knowledge in business. Although top managers hail knowledge and learning as the source of their competitive edge, the rich empirical studies presented in the book question this top-down perspective. It will make compelling reading for management academics and practitioners alike. - ;Top executives increasingly see the competitive advantage of their firms coming from their ability to exploit knowledge and learning. Policy-makers likewise see the fate of national and regional economies being determined by the emergence of a knowledge economy. These views place great importance on the way in which knowledge evolves within business. However, to date, our understanding of that evolution has been limited by a tendency to see knowledge as simply a resource or input to be transformed into outputs. This R&D-centred view of business knowledge has recently been challenged by other views which emphasize the contribution of organizational learning, social practices, and management structures to its evolution within and between. organizations. Competitive success is seen as dependent on the firm's ability to mobilize all of these different kinds of knowledge. Based on the findings of a major research programme funded by the UK's ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) and DTI (Department for Trade and Industry), this book makes a major contribution to this emerging picture of the evolution of business knowledge. The detailed empirical studies contained within it have been undertaken by some of the UK's leading management researchers. They cover a variety of sectors ranging from overtly knowledge producing institutions such as business schools. and the scientific professions, through intermediary groups such as consultants and lobby groups to the creation and application of knowledge by firms, large and small. This work highlights the impact of different institutional contexts, social networks and technolo more...

Price: $49.95

The Force of Reason and the Logic of Force investigates the concept of force through various 'episodes' in the history of philosophy. The author argues that force arises on the basis of the distinction of reality and mere appearance. The book looks at figures who reduce force to something other than itself as well as figures who develop a 'logic of force' that allows them to trace the operation of force without such a reduction. more...

Price: $85.98

By the time of his death in 2006, Sir Peter Strawson was regarded as one of the world's most distinguished philosophers. Beginning with "Freedom and Resentment", this collection is a testament to the astonishing range of Strawson's thought as he discusses free will, ethics and morality, logic, the mind-body problem and aesthetics. more...

Price: $28.95

Everybody who thinks or speaks possesses consciousness – but nobody is capable of defining exactly what consciousness is. The phenomenon ‘consciousness’, therefore, is a persistent enigma which is being continually addressed by various disciplines. This volume encompasses the functions of consciousness as analysed by a consortium of scholars from the life sciences and humanities. Empirical results taken from psychiatry and psychology, linguistic and philosophical act and speech analyses, as well as, historical perspectives are all placed in context with one another. more...

Price: $95.00