What is the relationship between common-sense, or ‘folk’, psychology
and contemporary scientific psychology? Are they in conflict with one
another? Or do they perform quite different, though perhaps complemen-
tary, roles? George Botterill and Peter Carruthers discuss these questions,
defending a robust form of realism about the commitments of folk
psychology and about the prospects for integrating those commitments
into natural science. Their focus throughout the book is on the ways in
which cognitive science presents a challenge to our common-sense self-
image – arguing that our native conception of the mind will be enriched,
but not overturned, by science. The Philosophy of Psychology is designed
as a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and beginning graduate
students in philosophy and cognitive science. As a text that not only
surveys but advances the debates on the topics discussed, it will also be of
interest to researchers working in these areas.
George Botterill is Lecturer in Philosophy and a member of the Hang
Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies at the University of Sheffield. He has
published a number of essays in the philosophy of mind and the philos-
ophy of science.
Peter Carruthers is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Hang
Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies at the University of Sheffield. His
publications include Human Knowledge and Human Nature (1992) and
Language, Thought and Consciousness: An Essay in Philosophical Psy-
chology (Cambridge University Press, 1996).