Kant and the Platypus: Essays on Language and Cognition

by Professor of Semiotics Umberto Eco (Author)

New
Paperback
2000
$24.86

How do we know a cat is a cat? And why do we call it a cat? How much of our perception of things is based on cognitive ability, and how much on linguistic resources? Here, in six remarkable essays, Umberto Eco explores in depth questions of reality, perception, and experience. Basing his ideas on common sense, Eco shares a vast wealth of literary and historical knowledge, touching on issues that affect us every day. At once philosophical and amusing, Kant and the Platypus is a tour of the world of our senses, told by a master of knowing what is real and what is not.

Synopsis

How do we know a cat is a cat? And why do we call it a cat? How much of our perception of things is based on cognitive ability, and how much on linguistic resources? Here, in six remarkable essays, Umberto Eco explores in depth questions of reality, perception, and experience. Basing his ideas on common sense, Eco shares a vast wealth of literary and historical knowledge, touching on issues that affect us every day. At once philosophical and amusing, Kant and the Platypus is a tour of the world of our senses, told by a master of knowing what is real and what is not.

$24.86

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc
Published: Oct 2000
ISBN 10: 015601159X
ISBN 13: 9780156011594

Media Reviews

Presented with mock solemnity and written with grace and wit, the book is a genuine work of scholarship that is also a pleasure to read.-Newsweek
Witty and stylish. -The New York Times
A book no self-respecting dreamer should be without. -The Economist

Author Bio

UMBERTO ECO (1932-2016) was the author of numerous essay collections and seven novels, including The Name of the Rose, The Prague Cemetery, and Inventing the Enemy. He received Italy's highest literary award, the Premio Strega, was named a Chevalier de la L gion d'Honneur by the French government, and was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.