Neil Gascoigne contributed to the Hanbuch Richard Rorty, published by Springer VS and edited by Martin Müller, with a chapter entitled 'Philosophy of Mind: Mind-Body Identity and Eliminative Materialism'
Neil's contribution provides a critical outline of Rorty’s early, “eliminativist” attempt to formulate a materialist version of the mind-body identity theory that does not fall foul of the “irreducible properties objection” (the thought that if mental states are brain states then the latter must exhibit the same properties as the former). An explanation is offered of why Rorty continued to describe himself as a materialist/physicalist despite having come to reject any version of mind-body identity.
You can read the full chapter here.
