Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science
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Book Overview
This introductory text contains eight short chapters which tell a story and invite the reader to join in a conceptual discussion of the key issues, problems and opportunities in cognitive science. The story is about the search for a cognitive scientific understanding of mind. It is presented as a no-holds-barred journey from early work in artificial intelligence, through connectionist (artificial neural network) counter-visions and onto neuroscience artificial life, dynamics and robotics. The journey ends with speculation about the role of technology and the changing nature of the human mind itself. Each chapter is organized as an initial sketch of a research programme or theme, followed by a substantial discussion section in which specific problems and issues (both familiar and cutting-edge) are raised and pursued. Discussion topics in the book include: mental causation; the hardware/software distinction; the relations between life and mind; the nature of perception, cognition and action; and the continuity (or otherwise) of high-level human intelligence with other forms of adaptive response.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0195138562
ISBN13:9780195138566
Release Date:December 2000
Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
Length:224 Pages
Weight:0.75 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 9.2" x 6.1"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Great Book, But No Introduction
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
First, let me say, I took so much from this book. I'm a cognitive science major myself and there were ideas in this book that hadn't ever come to my attention. I would like to say, however, that the chapter on connectionism didn't do the topic justice. Also, the book's chapters on the whole tend to mesh together to build up to the author's personal philosophical paradigm, extended mind hypothesis and largely embodied cognition (which is what most cognitive scientists believe). I find that in doing this, however, the reader misses out on the history and therefore context that these competing paradigms share. Second, although this is a great book, I'm not sure I could recommend it to a layman audience. For that reason (not being as the title says, an introduction) I deducted one star from the review. However, if there's any philosophers of the mind, psychologists, biologists, or just curious people out there, I'd recommend this book to read for cognitive science (also, it helps a lot, for undergrad cog sci majors to give this a read before entering into your first cogs class).
Great Overview of Cognitive Science
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This book was recommended to me by a cognitive scientist researcher at my university as the single best thing I could read to obtain an up-to-date overview of what's going on in cognitive science. The book lived up to this promise. I found it an excellent, scientifically and philosophically informed, treatment of this topic.
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