Interpreting minds Book

Probably one of the most comprehensive overviews of Searle's view on mind and language and the relationship between the two. It does not go into Searle's views on the relationship between facts and assertions (on the one hand) or beliefs and society (on the other) and so it is not totally inclusive of Searle's broad philosophical views. Still, it is pretty substantial.

There are a number of challenges with reading the book, which is that Searle is not particularly clear with regard to where he stands relative to the historical discussion. Frege, who plays a major role in Searle's discussion, has very clear views about the role of psychology in a theory of meaning, and Searle seems to disagree with Frege, but never makes this specific. I worry that this leads to some confusion about what Searle's views are, because some of those claims are unclear.

It is also a very technical view, though Searle is a much better writer than others in technical philosophy. If I were building a curriculum on Searle's philosophy (not totally out of the realm of possibility) I probably would assign this as a central reading; if I were to put together a syllabus on modern philosophy of language, I would probably use some excerpts, but have to make some careful choices about presentation. My advice for reading it is more or less the same. Worthwhile read, but one to read carefully or not at all.