Stinking Philosophy!

The nature of olfaction; its importance for understanding perennial issues of philosophy of mind, perception, and consciousness; and its implications for cognitive neuroscience.

What are smells? Despite the best efforts of philosophy and the chemosciences, the question remains vexing—but no more perplexing than the historical lapse of the past centuries to seriously consider a sense that has a key place in philosophy of mind and perception. Stinking Philosophy! is Benjamin Young’s answer to this critical lapse. Drawing together more than a decade's research on olfactory philosophy, the book offers a clear, comprehensive look at the nature of odors—how we perceive smells, how we cognitively represent odors, how we communicate about them as categories, and what they can tell us about consciousness.

In Stinking Philosophy! Young presents a methodology for addressing the philosophical and conceptual issues raised by the sense of smell. Then, in an exacting and coherent fashion, he explores how the philosophy of smell contributes to—and advances—a wide range of debates within philosophy of mind, perception, and cognitive neuroscience. Ultimately, his work demonstrates how empirically informed philosophy can have a significant impact on interdisciplinary research on smell across philosophy, the chemosciences, and neuroscience.Contents
Preface   
Chapter 1 - An Apologetic Introduction
Chapter 2 – What are Smells?   
Chapter 3 - Tasting Flavors
Chapter 4 – Formatting Odors
Chapter 5 – Pondering Smells   
Chapter 6 - Unconsciously Smelling
Chapter 7 – Stinking Theories of Consciousness
References“Anglo-analytic philosophy of perception began by focusing on color. But in recent decades the field has seen a welcome growth in philosophical analysis of other sensory modalities. Benjamin Young’s lively book about olfaction offers a well-reasoned and empirically informed discussion of many important aspects of this crucial sensory function and its relationship to consciousness.”
—Susanna Siegel, Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University
 
“This rich, engagingly written, and empirically very well-founded volume shows not only how smell is different from all other senses, with surprising quirks and its own philosophical puzzles, but also how examining philosophical questions about smell can lead to a richer and more thorough understanding of perception in general.”
—Bence Nanay, Professor, Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of AntwerpBenjamin Young is Associate Professor in Philosophy and a member of the graduate faculty in interdisciplinary neuroscience and the Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the coeditor of Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience and of the collection Theoretical Perspectives on Smell.