Contact The MIT Press Information on how to order from The MIT Press Access your saved shopping cart, e-mail list subscriptions, order history, address book, and other info in the Your Profile area MIT Press Home Page


May 1998
6 x 9, 356 pp.
(CLOTH)
Short

ISBN-10:
0-262-02441-1
ISBN-13:
978-0-262-02441-9

Out Of Print
Other Editions
Paper (2000)
Series
Representation and Mind
Related Links
Open this site in a new browser window.
Find this book in a library
Table of Contents
The Paradox of Self-Consciousness
José Luis Bermúdez

Table of Contents and Sample Chapters

In this book, José Luis Bermúdez addesses two fundamental problems in the philosophy and psychology of self-consciousness: (1) Can we provide a noncircular account of fully fledged self-conscious thought and language in terms of more fundamental capacities? (2) Can we explain how fully fledged self-conscious thought and language can arise in the normal course of human development? Bermúdez argues that a paradox (the paradox of self-consciousness) arises from the apparent strict interdependence between self-conscious thought and linguistic self-reference. The paradox renders circular all theories that define self-consciousness in terms of linguistic mastery of the first-person pronoun. It seems to follow from the paradox of self-consciousness that no such account or explanation can be given.

elinguistic and preconceptual. Such primitive forms of self-consciDrawing on recent work in empirical psychology and philosophy, the author argues that any explanation of fully fledged self-consciousness that answers these two questions requires attention to primitive forms of self-consciousness that are prousness are to be found in somatic proprioception, the structure of exteroceptive perception, and prelinguistic forms of social interaction. The author uses these primitive forms of self-consciousness to dissolve the paradox of self-consciousness and to show how the two questions can be given an affirmative answer.


Endorsements

"The book presents in accessible fashion recent important work on the self and self-consciousness and also moves the issues forward with interesting new ideas. It provides a notably crisp and clear treatment of some extremely intriguing topics."
Jane Heal, Department of Philosophy, University of Cambridge

". . . a rich and rewarding book on one of the most difficult topics in philosophy. No philosopher heretofore has come close to bringing such a wide range of scientific findings to bear on self-consciousness in its many stages and aspects. The reader can safely venture into the Bermúdez triangle. An edifying experience awaits."
Kent Bach, Philosophical Psychology





See Other Titles In:
Cognition, Brain, & Behavior
 Cognitive & Language Development
 Consciousness
 Philosophy of Mind
Humanities
 Philosophy
 Psychology
Neuroscience
 Consciousness
Philosophy
 Consciousness
 General
 Philosophy of Mind
 
Join an E-mail Alert List


 
 
TECHNOLOGY PARTNER: Azility, Inc. TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | COPYRIGHT © 2009