诺姆·乔姆斯基任教于美国麻省理工学院(MIT)的语言学和哲学系，是该校为数不多的学院教授之一。他是世界著名的语言学家、哲学家、政治活动家和评论家。自上个世纪50年代以来，乔姆斯基以其诸多论著而成为当代语言学、政治、认知心理学和哲学领域中的核心人物。本书是乔姆斯基的语言学文集，书中这些论著全面阐述了乔姆斯基语言哲学思想的本质和内容。希望这本选集有助于增进学界对乔姆斯基语言哲学的进一步了解，并为一般读者深入阅读乔姆斯基的作品提供方便。

Inside your head there is an amazing labor saving device; more effective than the latest high-tech computer. Your brain frees you from the everyday tasks of moving about in the world around you, allowing you to concentrate on the things that are important to you; making friends and influencing people. However, the 'you' that is released into this social world is also a construction of your brain. It is your brain that enables you to share your mental life with the people around you. Making Up the Mind is the first accessible account of experimental studies showing how the brain creates our mental world. Using evidence from brain imaging, psychological experiments, and patient studies, Chris Frith, one of the world's leading neuroscientists, explores the relationship between the mind and the brain.

“我们是如何认识到我们已经认识到了？”“我们的意识和个人心灵是如何产生自我感的？”在这本人们殷切期待的菱中，令人尊敬的神经科学家安东尼奥·R.达马西奥将其多年对于神经病患者的研究和写作天赋奉献给了脑科学研究的最前沿领域——意识的奥秘，对意识产生的生理机制和意识对于生存的意义提出了新的理解。 在当前关于意识的观点发生剧烈分歧的时刎，达马两奥坚持认为，对我们是如何产生心理表象或者注意到这些表象进行解释，并不足以解释清楚这个奥秘。要对意识的产乍作出令人满意的假设必须要尝试对自我感是如何进入心灵的这一问题进行解释。 达马西奥认为，自我感并不依赖丁记忆或推理，甚至也不太依赖于语言。他论证说，自我感依赖丁在与客体建立联系的活动中脑对有机体进行描绘的能力。反过来，这种能力又是脑参与调节生命过程的一种结果。但在自我感产生之初，它还是另外一种装置，其目的旨在保证个体的生存。 在拜渎r达马两奥的那本罩程碑式的著作《笛卡尔的错误》一书后，乔纳斯·索尔克写道：“在观察你自己或另一个人时，对你所看到的事情背后所发生的一切，你将再也不会茫然无知。” 《感受发生的一切》带着你沿着同样的发现之路又向前迈进了一步，并且指出了“意识是如何成_为一把打开考察生命之谜的钥匙，是如何使我们的祖先获得了这种使我们成为人的体验”。

《剑桥五重奏:机器能思考吗》内容简介：时间是1949年，地点是英国剑桥大学基督学院。晚宴的参加者是五位伟大的智者：小说家兼物理学家斯诺，著名数学家图灵，语言哲学家维特根斯坦，量子物理学家薛定谔和遗传学家霍尔丹。他们边品尝着美味佳肴，边围绕着“机器能思考吗”这一主题展开广泛而深入的探讨。作者通过这一虚构晚宴中智者的争论，揭示机器智能所面临的问题。这是一种展现科学的新途径，是奉献给读者的一份智慧大餐。

Since the 1971s the cognitive sciences have offered multidisciplinary ways of understanding the mind and cognition. The MIT Encyclopedia of the represents Sciences(MITECS)is a landmark,comprehensive reference work that represents the methodological and theoretical diversity of this changing field. For both students and researchers,MITCS will be an indispensable guide to the current state of the cognitive sciences. “The cognitive sciences emerged in recognition of the fact that scholars and scientists in many different fields shared common problems and needed to collaborate. Now at last The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences has provided a forum large enough for that interaction to occur——a forum that will not only facilitate cooperation but will educate a new generation of cognitive scientists.”——George Miller,Professor of Psychology Emeritus,Princeton University “At last,a thorough,authoritative source for work in the cognitive sciences. Take the most important topics in the study of cognition,ask the worlds top authorities to summarize the state of the art,and you have it:The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. I have already used it to learn,to browse,to inform,to teach,and to update my own understanding.It doesnt matter which end you seek:the book will frequently be in use.” ——Donald A. Norman. The Nielsen Norman Group;Professor Emeritus,Department of Cognitive Science,University of California,San Diego;and author The Invisible Computer “Among the human minds proudest accomplishments is the invention of a science dedicated to understanding itself:cognitive science. In less than fifty years,deep mysteries of antiquity have been brought into the lab and captured in rigorous theories. This volume is an authoritative guide to this exhilarating new body of knowledge,written by the experts,edited with skill and good judgment.If we were to leave a time capsule for the next millennium with records of the great achievements of civilization,this volume would have to be in it.” ——Steven Pinker,Professor of Psychology,Massachusetts Institute of Technology;and author of How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct.