Kant and the Platypus Essays on Language and Cognition [Paperback]

How do we know a cat is a cat? And why do we call it a cat? How much of our perception of things is based on cognitive ability, and how much on linguistic resources? Here, in six remarkable essays, Umberto Eco explores in depth questions of reality, perception, and experience. Basing his ideas on common sense, Eco shares a vast wealth of literary and historical knowledge, touching on issues that affect us every day. At once philosophical and amusing, Kant and the Platypus is a tour of the world of our senses, told by a master of knowing what is real and what is not.

Presented with mock solemnity and written with grace and wit, the book is a genuine work of scholarship that is also a pleasure to read.-Newsweek
Witty and stylish. -The New York Times
A book no self-respecting dreamer should be without. -The Economist