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.