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4318MisrepresentationIn Radu Bogdan (ed.), Belief: Form, Content, and Function, Oxford University Press. pp. 17--36. 1986.
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1704Knowledge and the Flow of InformationMIT Press. 1981.This book presents an attempt to develop a theory of knowledge and a philosophy of mind using ideas derived from the mathematical theory of communication developed by Claude Shannon. Information is seen as an objective commodity defined by the dependency relations between distinct events. Knowledge is then analyzed as information caused belief. Perception is the delivery of information in analog form for conceptual utilization by cognitive mechanisms. The final chapters attempt to develop a theo…Read more
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835Conclusive reasonsAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 49 (1): 1-22. 1971.This Article does not have an abstract
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781Laws of naturePhilosophy of Science 44 (2): 248-268. 1977.It is a traditional empiricist doctrine that natural laws are universal truths. In order to overcome the obvious difficulties with this equation most empiricists qualify it by proposing to equate laws with universal truths that play a certain role, or have a certain function, within the larger scientific enterprise. This view is examined in detail and rejected; it fails to account for a variety of features that laws are acknowledged to have. An alternative view is advanced in which laws are expr…Read more
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776What we see : the texture of conscious experienceIn Bence Nanay (ed.), Perceiving the World, Oxford University Press Usa. pp. 54. 2010.
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718Chris Hill’s consciousness (review)Philosophical Studies 161 (3): 497-502. 2012.Chris Hill’s consciousness Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11098-011-9812-4 Authors Fred Dretske, 212 Selkirk, Durham, NC 27707, USA Journal Philosophical Studies Online ISSN 1573-0883 Print ISSN 0031-8116
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701Perception without awarenessIn Tamar Szabó Gendler & John Hawthorne (eds.), Perceptual Experience, Oxford University Press. pp. 147--180. 2006.
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683Epistemology and InformationIn Pieter Adriaans & Johan Van Benthem (eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, Volume 8. Philosophy of Information., Elsevier-north Holland. pp. 29-47. 2008.
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574Naturalizing the MindMIT Press. 1995.In this provocative book, Fred Dretske argues that to achieve an understanding of the mind it is not enough to understand the biological machinery by means of...
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510How do you know you are not a zombieIn Brie Gertler (ed.), Privileged Access: Philosophical Accounts of Self-Knowledge, Ashgate. pp. 1--14. 2003.
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507Phenomenal externalism, or if meanings ain't in the head, where are qualia?Philosophical Issues 7 143-158. 1996.
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482A Recipe for ThoughtIn David J. Chalmers (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings, Oup Usa. 2002.
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465Explaining Behavior: Reasons in a World of CausesMIT Press. 1988.In this lucid portrayal of human behavior, Fred Dretske provides an original account of the way reasons function in the causal explanation of behavior.
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423If You Can’t Make One, You Don’t Know How It WorksMidwest Studies in Philosophy 19 (1): 468-482. 1994.
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410Entitlement: Epistemic rights without epistemic duties?Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 60 (3): 591-606. 2000.The debate between externalists and internalists in epistemology can be viewed as a disagreement about whether there are epistemic rights without corresponding duties or obligations. Taking an epistemic right to believe P as an authorization to not only accept P as true but to use P as a positive reason for accepting other propositions, the debate is about whether there are unjustified justifiers. It is about whether there are propositions that provide for others what nothing need provide for th…Read more
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382Perception and other mindsNoûs 7 (1): 34-44. 1973.We ordinarily speak of being able to see that there are people on the bus, Students in the class, And children playing in the street. If human beings are understood to be conscious entities, Then one of our ways of knowing that there are other conscious entities in the world besides ourselves is by seeing that there are. We also speak of seeing that he is angry, She is depressed, And so on. It is argued that this is, Indeed, One way of knowing that there are other minds (and, Hence, That the pro…Read more
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325Information and ClosureErkenntnis 64 (3): 409-413. 2006.Peter Baumann and Nicholas Shackel defend me against a serious criticism by Christoph Jäger. They argue that my account of information is consistent with my denial of closure for knowledge. Information isn’t closed under known entailment either. I think that, technically speaking, they are right. But the way they are right doesn’t help me much in my effort to answer the skeptic. I describe a way in which information, like knowledge, fails to be closed in a way that makes an information-based acc…Read more
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315What good is consciousness?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 27 (1): 1-15. 1997.If consciousness is good for something, conscious things must differ in some causally relevant way from unconscious things. If they do not, then, as Davies and Humphreys conclude, too bad for consciousness: ‘psychological theory need not be concerned with this topic.’Davies and Humphreys are applying a respectable metaphysical idea — the idea, namely, that if an object's having a property does not make a difference to what that object does, if the object's causal powers are in no way enhanced by…Read more
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311Knowledge: readings in contemporary epistemology (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2000.In this anthology, distinguished editors Sven Bernecker and Fred Dretske offer the most comprehensive review available of contemporary epistemology. They bring together the most important and influential writings in the field, including selections that cover frequently neglected topics such as dominant responses to skepticism, introspection, memory, and testimony. Knowledge is divided into fifteen subject areas and includes forty-one readings by eminent contributors. An accessible introduction t…Read more
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311Perception, Knowledge and Belief: Selected EssaysCambridge University Press. 2000.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 t…Read more
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270Knowing what you think vs. knowing that you think itIn Richard Schantz (ed.), The Externalist Challenge, De Gruyter. 2004.