Abstract
In the volume of essays on Gilbert Ryle published in 1970 by George Pitcher and Oscar Wood, there is a paper by Peter Strawson on categories. In my contribution to this new volume on Ryle, I go through some now well-recognised difficulties with Ryle’s own treatment of categories, and in particular of category mistakes. I then consider some general problems that beset the efforts of others to do better, before turning to Strawson’s suggestions, which as far as I can discover have never been discussed in print. These suggestions have obvious merits, but I end by arguing that they are less than fully successful.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Körner, S. (1970) Categorial Frameworks ( Oxford: Blackwell).
Pap, A. (1960) ‘Types and Meaninglessness’, Mind 69 (273): 41–54.
Pitcher, G. and O.P. Wood (eds) (1970) Ryle: a Collection of Critical Essays ( London: Macmillan ).
Ryle, G. ( 2000 [1949]) The Concept of Mind ( London: Pengu in Books).
Ryle, G. (1954) Dilemmas ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954 ).
Ryle, G. (1966) ‘Categories’ in A.G.N. Flew (ed.) Logic and Language II ( Oxford: Blackwell ), pp. 65–81.
Sommers, F. (1960) ‘The Ordinary Language Tree’, Mind 69 (270): 160–85.
Sommers (1963) ‘Types and Ontology’, The Philosophical Review 72 (3): 327–63.
Sommers (1965) ‘Predicability’ in M. Black (ed.) Philosophy in America ( London: George Allen & Unwin ), pp. 262–81.
Strawson, P.F. (1970) ‘Categories’ in G. Pitcher and O.P. Wood (eds) Ryle: a Collection of Critical Essays ( London: Macmillan ), pp. 181–211.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Jonathan Dancy
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dancy, J. (2014). Ryle and Strawson on Category Mistakes. In: Dolby, D. (eds) Ryle on Mind and Language. Philosophers in Depth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476203_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476203_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34817-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47620-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)