Skill, Drill, and Intelligent Performance: Ryle and Intellectualism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v5i5.3205Abstract
In this paper, we aim to show that a study of Gilbert Ryle’s work has much to contribute to the current debate between intellectualism and anti-intellectualism with respect to skill and know-how. According to Ryle, knowing how and skill are distinctive from and do not reduce to knowing that. What is often overlooked is that for Ryle this point is connected to the idea that the distinction between skill and mere habit is a category distinction, or a distinction in form. Criticizing the reading of Ryle presented by Jason Stanley, we argue that once the formal nature of Ryle’s investigation is recognized it becomes clear that his dispositional account is not an instance of reductionist behaviorism, and that his regress argument has a broader target than Stanley appears to recognize.References
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Bengson, John and Marc A. Moffett, eds., 2011. Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind and Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dreyfus, Hubert, 2005. “Overcoming The Myth of the Mental: How Philosophers Can Profit from the Phenomenology of Everyday Expertise.” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 79: 47–65.
Ford, Anton, 2015. “The Arithmetic of Intention.” American Philosophical Quarterly 52: 129–43.
Frege, Gottlob, 1950. The Foundations of Arithmetic, translated by J. L. Austin. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Fridland, Ellen, 2014. “They’ve Lost Control: Reflections on Skill.” Synthese 191: 2729–50.
———, 2015. “Knowing-how: Problems and Considerations.” European Journal of Philosophy 23: 703–27.
Ginet, Carl, 1975. Knowledge, Perception, and Memory. Boston: Reidel.
Hornsby, Jennifer, 2011. “Ryle’s Knowing How and Knowing How to Act.” In Bengson and Moffett (2011), pp. 80–98.
Kremer, Michael, 2017. “A Capacity to Get Things Right: Gilbert Ryle on Knowledge.” European Journal of Philosophy 25: 25–46.
Ryle, Gilbert, 2009a. The Concept of Mind. London: Routledge. First published 1949.
———, 2009b. Collected Papers, vol. 2, Collected Essays 1929–1968. London: Routledge.
Rödl, Sebastian, 2012. Categories of the Temporal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Stanley, Jason, 2011. Know How. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stanley, Jason and Timothy Williamson, 2001. “Knowing How.” Journal of Philosophy 98: 411–44.
Small, Will, 2017. “Ryle on the Explanatory Role of Knowledge How.” Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 5.5: 56–76. (This issue.)
Wiggins, David, 2012. “Practical Knowledge: Knowing How To and Knowing That.” Mind 121: 97–130.
Bengson, John and Marc A. Moffett, eds., 2011. Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind and Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dreyfus, Hubert, 2005. “Overcoming The Myth of the Mental: How Philosophers Can Profit from the Phenomenology of Everyday Expertise.” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 79: 47–65.
Ford, Anton, 2015. “The Arithmetic of Intention.” American Philosophical Quarterly 52: 129–43.
Frege, Gottlob, 1950. The Foundations of Arithmetic, translated by J. L. Austin. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Fridland, Ellen, 2014. “They’ve Lost Control: Reflections on Skill.” Synthese 191: 2729–50.
———, 2015. “Knowing-how: Problems and Considerations.” European Journal of Philosophy 23: 703–27.
Ginet, Carl, 1975. Knowledge, Perception, and Memory. Boston: Reidel.
Hornsby, Jennifer, 2011. “Ryle’s Knowing How and Knowing How to Act.” In Bengson and Moffett (2011), pp. 80–98.
Kremer, Michael, 2017. “A Capacity to Get Things Right: Gilbert Ryle on Knowledge.” European Journal of Philosophy 25: 25–46.
Ryle, Gilbert, 2009a. The Concept of Mind. London: Routledge. First published 1949.
———, 2009b. Collected Papers, vol. 2, Collected Essays 1929–1968. London: Routledge.
Rödl, Sebastian, 2012. Categories of the Temporal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Stanley, Jason, 2011. Know How. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stanley, Jason and Timothy Williamson, 2001. “Knowing How.” Journal of Philosophy 98: 411–44.
Small, Will, 2017. “Ryle on the Explanatory Role of Knowledge How.” Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 5.5: 56–76. (This issue.)
Wiggins, David, 2012. “Practical Knowledge: Knowing How To and Knowing That.” Mind 121: 97–130.
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2017-05-15
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