?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Hitting+the+Nail+on+the+Head&rft.creator=Dennett%2C+Daniel&rft.subject=Logic&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Science&rft.description=This+is+a+valuable+antidote+to+several+different+ill-examined+preconceptions%2C+but+I+don't+think+it+has+quite+succeeded+in+unmasking+and+neutralizing+the+bogey+that+motivates+them+all.+I+shall+attempt+to+do+this+be+reinforcing%2C+with+minor+caveats%2C+some+of+the+authors'+main+points.+In+defense+of+their+'enactive'+account%2C+the+authors+occasionally+protest+too+much.+For+instance%2C+the+trouble+with+(external)+objectivism+is+not+that+it+makes+the+mistake+of+holding+the+external+environment+constant%2C+setting+a+problem+for+the+organism.+Following+Levins+and+Lewontin%2C+they+insist+on+the+role+of+the+organism+in+creating+its+visual+environment%2C+but+this+is+a+process+that+occurs+almost+entirely+on+an+evolutionary+time+scale.+It+is+true%2C+as+Lewontin+has+often+pointed+out%2C+that+the+chemical+composition+of+the+atmosphere%2C+for+instance%2C+is+as+much+a+product+of+the+activity+of+living+organisms+as+a+precondition+of+their+life%2C+but+it+is+also+true+that+it+can+be+safely+treated+as+a+constant%2C+since+its+changes+in+response+to+local+organismic+activity+are+usually+insignificant+as+variables+in+interaction+with+the+variables+under+scrutiny.+The+same+is+true+of+the+colors+of+objects%3A+they+have+indeed+co-evolved+with+the+color-vision+systems+of+the+organisms%2C+but%2C+except+on+an+evolutionary+time+scale%2C+they+are+in+the+main+imperturbable+by+organisms'+perceptual+activity.&rft.date=1992&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F269%2F1%2Fthompso.htm&rft.identifier=++Dennett%2C+Daniel++(1992)+Hitting+the+Nail+on+the+Head.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F269%2F