Wilfrid Sellars Naturalism with a Normative Turn

The work of the American philosopher Wilfrid Sellars continues to have a significant impact on the contemporary philosophical scene. His writings have influenced major thinkers such as Rorty, McDowell, Brandom and Dennett, and many of Sellars' basic conceptions such as the 'logical space of reasons', the 'myth of the given', and the 'manifest and scientific images' have become standard philosophical terms. Often, however, recent uses of these terms do not reflect the richness or the true sense of Sellars' original ideas. This book gets to the heart of Sellars' philosophy and provides students with the first critical introduction to his life's work.The book is structured around what Sellars himself regarded as the philosopher's overarching task: to achieve a coherent vision of reality that will finally overcome the continuing clashes between the world as common sense takes it to be and the world as science reveals it to be. It provides a clear analysis of Sellars' groundbreaking philosophy of mind, his novel theory of consciousness, his defence of scientific realism, and his comprehensive naturalism with a normative turn. Providing a lively examination of Sellars' work through the central problem of what it means to be a human being in a scientific world, this book will be a valuable resource for all students of philosophy.

James O'Shea, Lecturer in Philosophy, University College, Dublin