Perception, Knowledge and Belief

This collection of essays by eminent philosopher Fred Dretske brings together work on the theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind spanning thirty years. The two areas combine to lay the groundwork for a naturalistic philosophy of mind. The fifteen essays focus on perception, knowledge, and consciousness. Together, they show the interconnectedness of Dretske’s work in epistemology and his more contemporary ideas on philosophy of mind, shedding light on the links which can be made between the two. The first section of the book argues the point that knowledge consists of beliefs with the right objective connection to facts; two essays discuss this conception of knowledge’s implications for naturalism. The next section articulates a view of perception, attempting to distinguish conceptual states from phenomenal states. A naturalized philosophy of mind, and thus a naturalized epistemology, is articulated in the third section. This collection will be a valuable resource for a wide range of philosophers and their students, and will also be of interest to cognitive scientists, psychologists, and philosophers of biology.

• Dretske is a very well-known, highly respected philosopher • Many of the essays included in this volume are thought to be classics • Essays show how Dretske’s thought developed over thirty years • Links early work in epistemology with more contemporary work in philosophy of mind

Part I. Knowledge: 1. Conclusive reasons; 2. Epistemic operators; 3. The pragmatic dimension of knowledge; 4. The epistemology of belief; 5. Two conceptions of knowledge: rational vs. reliable belief; Part II. Perception and Experience: 6. Simple seeing; 7. Conscious experience; 8. Differences that make no difference; 9. The mind’s awareness of itself; 10. What good is consciousness; Part III. Thought and Intentionality: 11. Putting information to work; 12. If you can’t make one, you don’t know how it works; 13. The nature of thought; 14. Norms and the constitution of the mental; 15. Minds, machines, and money: what really explains behavior.