A Philosophy of Material Culture
Action, Function, and Mind
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:27th Jul '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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- Hardback£145.00(9780415623087)
This book focuses on material culture as a subject of philosophical inquiry and promotes the philosophical study of material culture by articulating some of the central and difficult issues raised by this topic and providing innovative solutions to them, most notably an account of improvised action and a non-intentionalist account of function in material culture.
Preston argues that material culture essentially involves activities of production and use; she therefore adopts an action-theoretic foundation for a philosophy of material culture. Part 1 illustrates this foundation through a critique, revision, and extension of existing philosophical theories of action. Part 2 investigates a salient feature of material culture itself—its functionality. A basic account of function in material culture is constructed by revising and extending existing theories of biological function to fit the cultural case. Here the adjustments are for the most part necessitated by special features of function in material culture.
These two parts of the project are held together by a trio of overarching themes: the relationship between individual and society, the problem of centralized control, and creativity.
"[...] a good book for archaeologists and anthropologists interested in theory [...and] for the philosophers of technology and the theory of action." --Barry Allen, McMaster University for Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
ISBN: 9781138210226
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 453g
252 pages