Bold and lucid, this book brings out the best in the philosophy of mind. Noë shows that it is not enough to know the puzzling phenomena; you have to resist the tempting misinterpretations of them that have bedeviled cognitive scientists and philosophers alike. Here is a philosopher who can actually help cognitive scientists untangle the knotty problems of the mind.
Daniel Dennett, author of Brainchildren, Consciousness Explained and I
The approach to perception Noë lays out brings the study of perception back into its valid ecological context. I recommend this book to psychophysicists, neuroscientists, computational theorists, and anyone else interested in the rich experience and adaptive functions of perception. It is a pleasure to follow the colorful examples and the careful and cogent argumentation on issues that are essential to everyone
Shinsuke Shimojo, California Institute of Technology
[a] balanced, well-considered account of this hot topic.
Nature
Action packed and brimming with new ideas, provocative illustrations and clearly laid-out arguments, Action in Perception is a landmark contribution to the emerging science and philosophy of the embodied mind. Pursuing the idea that perceiving is a way of acting rooted in a certain kind of implicit understanding, Noë tackles everything from phenomenology to the philosophy of content and consciousness. Empirically sensitive while remaining genuinely philosophical in scope and execution, this book is essential reading for philosophers of mind, cognitive scientists of all stripes and persuasions, and anyone interested in the nature of perception, thought and action.
Andy Clark, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh
The most lucid and persuasive defense of the enactive theory of perception that I have read.
C. L. Hardin, Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Syracuse University
Honorable Mention, 2007 Book Prize presented by the American Philosophical Association.
