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Mind, reason, and being-in-the-world

the McDowell-Dreyfus debate

by Joseph K. Schear

Published 2012350 pagesISBN 978-0-4154-8586-9

John McDowell and Hubert L. Dreyfus are philosophers of world renown, whose work has decisively shaped the fields of analytic philosophy and phenomenology respectively. Mind, Reason, and Being-in-the-World : The McDowell-Dreyfus Debate opens with their debate over one of the most important and controversial subjects of philosophy: is human experience pervaded by conceptual rationality, or does experience mark the limits of reason? Is all intelligibility rational, or is there a form of intelligibility at work in our skillful bodily rapport with the world that eludes our intellectual capacities? McDowell and Dreyfus provide a fascinating insight into some fundamental differences between analytic philosophy and phenomenology, as well as areas where they may have something in common. Fifteen specially commissioned chapters by distinguished international contributors enrich the debate inaugurated by McDowell and Dreyfus, taking it in a number of different and important directions. Fundamental philosophical problems discussed include: the embodied mind, subjectivity and self-consciousness, intentionality, rationality, practical skills, human agency, and the history of philosophy from Kant to Hegel to Heidegger to Merleau-Ponty. With the addition of these outstanding contributions, Mind, Reason, and Being-in-the-World is essential reading for students and scholars of analytic philosophy and phenomenology--

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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Philosophy

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Mind, reason, and being-in-the-worldJoseph K. Schear
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Reading lengthA standard-length read350 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 2012
Primary categoryPhilosophyExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-4154-8586-9
Language
English
Edition record
OL25393461M
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A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Philosophy, then notice where the book resists that label.

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Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. What question is the author really asking beneath the book’s main argument?
  2. Which claim challenges one of your familiar assumptions?
  3. What remains unresolved—and is that uncertainty useful?

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