Using Sartre introduces analytically trained students to the continental tradition of philosophy. Gregory McCulloch relates the early philosophy of Sartre to concerns with which such students are already familiar, such as the mind-body problem, the problem of the external world, freedom and determinism, and the problem of other minds.
McCulloch’s distinctive strategy of promoting Sartrean views while working with a resolutely analytical methodology allows him to demonstrate that analytical philosophy, especially analytical philosophy of mind, still perpetuates basic mistakes exposed long ago by the existentialists. Existentialist themes are related to more contemporary interests in analytical philosophy of mind, including the computational theory of mind, externalism and the phenomenology of perception. This enlightening exploration of one tradition using another’s methods demonstrates that, despite their mutual antagonism, there is at least one way of bringing both traditions closer together.
Using Sartre is a clear and entertaining introduction to Sartre for beginners and non-specialists, sparking a new interest in Sartre’s work as well as making a significant contribution to the development of analytical philosophy of mind.
The author
Gregory McCulloch is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of The Game of the Name (1989) and of the forthcoming The Mind and Its World in the Routledge Problems of Philosophy series. |