Rule-Following: From Imitation to the Normative Mind

This comprehensive study deciphers the practice of rule-following, with the use of the tools offered by both contemporary philosophy and neuroscience. The book claims - in the Wittgensteinian spirit - that rule-following cannot be thought of in terms of individual mental states only. In order to explain what rules are, one needs to consider rule-following to be a communal practice. This stance is backed by some evolutionary scenarios and neuroscientific theories. The book culminates in an explication of rule-following in language, morality, and mathematics.