FRANK JACKSON
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264898
- eISBN:
- 9780191754074
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264898.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
There is no single version of physicalism. There is no single argument for physicalism. There is, accordingly, no standard answer concerning the implications of physicalism for the causation of human ...
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There is no single version of physicalism. There is no single argument for physicalism. There is, accordingly, no standard answer concerning the implications of physicalism for the causation of human action by mental states. This chapter begins by describing a preferred version of physicalism and its implications about the connection between subjects' mental states and what they do, and thereby for the determination and predictability of our actions. This serves as a precursor for a short discussion of the implications of physicalism for the possibility of free action. The chapter also discusses an anomalous physicalism that holds it is a mistake in principle to identify the mental and the physical, in the sense of identifying mental and physical kinds. At first blush, this kind of physicalism might seem good news for those who worry about the implications of physicalism for freedom. However, it is shown that the good news is not that good.Less
There is no single version of physicalism. There is no single argument for physicalism. There is, accordingly, no standard answer concerning the implications of physicalism for the causation of human action by mental states. This chapter begins by describing a preferred version of physicalism and its implications about the connection between subjects' mental states and what they do, and thereby for the determination and predictability of our actions. This serves as a precursor for a short discussion of the implications of physicalism for the possibility of free action. The chapter also discusses an anomalous physicalism that holds it is a mistake in principle to identify the mental and the physical, in the sense of identifying mental and physical kinds. At first blush, this kind of physicalism might seem good news for those who worry about the implications of physicalism for freedom. However, it is shown that the good news is not that good.
Nikolas Rose and Joelle M. Abi-Rached
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149608
- eISBN:
- 9781400846337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149608.003.0003
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development
This chapter explores the diverse attempts to render “mind” thinkable by means of images. Advances in clinical medicine from the nineteenth century onward went hand in hand with the penetration of ...
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This chapter explores the diverse attempts to render “mind” thinkable by means of images. Advances in clinical medicine from the nineteenth century onward went hand in hand with the penetration of the gaze of the doctor into depths of the body itself. There are now many examples of analogous advances linked to the structural imaging of the brain—in the detection of tumors, the identification of lesions, and the mapping of the damage caused by injury or stroke. Thanks to such images, the mind of the neuroscientist, the neurologist, and the psychiatrist now seem able to “walk among the tissues themselves.” Yet, however similar the images of brain function are to those of brain structure, they mislead if they seem to allow the mind of the neuroscientist to walk among thoughts, feelings, or desires. Technology alone, even where it appears to measure neural activity, cannot enable the gaze to bridge the gap between molecules and mental states.Less
This chapter explores the diverse attempts to render “mind” thinkable by means of images. Advances in clinical medicine from the nineteenth century onward went hand in hand with the penetration of the gaze of the doctor into depths of the body itself. There are now many examples of analogous advances linked to the structural imaging of the brain—in the detection of tumors, the identification of lesions, and the mapping of the damage caused by injury or stroke. Thanks to such images, the mind of the neuroscientist, the neurologist, and the psychiatrist now seem able to “walk among the tissues themselves.” Yet, however similar the images of brain function are to those of brain structure, they mislead if they seem to allow the mind of the neuroscientist to walk among thoughts, feelings, or desires. Technology alone, even where it appears to measure neural activity, cannot enable the gaze to bridge the gap between molecules and mental states.
Michael Spivey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195170788
- eISBN:
- 9780199786831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195170788.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
This chapter introduces the distinction between a pure mental state, which is an idealized (prototype) location in the state space that is never perfectly visited, and a probabilistic mental state, ...
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This chapter introduces the distinction between a pure mental state, which is an idealized (prototype) location in the state space that is never perfectly visited, and a probabilistic mental state, which is the region surrounding that location, often functioning like an attractor basin that “pulls” the system toward itself. With some simple simulations and visualizations, this chapter more richly explicates how the concept of a pattern of neural activation changing over time is equivalent to a continuous trajectory through a state space. As the trajectory settles into one attractor basin, the landscape changes (due to adaptation, new sensory input, and feedback from motor commands) so that the trajectory then moves on toward other attractor basins.Less
This chapter introduces the distinction between a pure mental state, which is an idealized (prototype) location in the state space that is never perfectly visited, and a probabilistic mental state, which is the region surrounding that location, often functioning like an attractor basin that “pulls” the system toward itself. With some simple simulations and visualizations, this chapter more richly explicates how the concept of a pattern of neural activation changing over time is equivalent to a continuous trajectory through a state space. As the trajectory settles into one attractor basin, the landscape changes (due to adaptation, new sensory input, and feedback from motor commands) so that the trajectory then moves on toward other attractor basins.
Elizabeth Fricker
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199287512
- eISBN:
- 9780191713620
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287512.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, General
In Knowledge and its Limits (KAIL) chapters 1 and 2, Timothy Williamson argues for what he rightly advertises as a surprising thesis: that knowing is a mental state (KMS). This chapter aims to show, ...
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In Knowledge and its Limits (KAIL) chapters 1 and 2, Timothy Williamson argues for what he rightly advertises as a surprising thesis: that knowing is a mental state (KMS). This chapter aims to show, first, that Williamson's case for KMS is not proven: while he removes some obstacles to accepting knowing as a fully mental state, he has no argument that compels KMS. Secondly, it argues that despite this removal of some obstacles, others remain: there are still strong grounds to resist KMS, which are not merely an expression of inertial prejudice in our thinking about the mental, and about knowing.Less
In Knowledge and its Limits (KAIL) chapters 1 and 2, Timothy Williamson argues for what he rightly advertises as a surprising thesis: that knowing is a mental state (KMS). This chapter aims to show, first, that Williamson's case for KMS is not proven: while he removes some obstacles to accepting knowing as a fully mental state, he has no argument that compels KMS. Secondly, it argues that despite this removal of some obstacles, others remain: there are still strong grounds to resist KMS, which are not merely an expression of inertial prejudice in our thinking about the mental, and about knowing.
Berit Brogaard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199796908
- eISBN:
- 9780199933235
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199796908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
What are the things that we assert, believe, and desire? The orthodox view among philosophers is eternalism: these are contents that have their truth-values eternally. Transient Truths provides the ...
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What are the things that we assert, believe, and desire? The orthodox view among philosophers is eternalism: these are contents that have their truth-values eternally. Transient Truths provides the first book-length exposition and defense of the opposing view, temporalism: these are contents that can change their truth-values along with changes in the world. Berit Brogaard argues that temporal contents are contents and propositions in the full sense. This project involves a thorough analysis of how we talk about and retain mental states over time, an examination of how the phenomenology of mental states bears on the content of mental states, an analysis of how we pass on information in temporally extended conversations, and a revival of a Priorian tense logic. The view suggests a broader view according to which some types of representation have a determinate truth-value only relative to features about the subject who does the representing. If this view is right, successful semantic representation requires an eye on our own position in the world.Less
What are the things that we assert, believe, and desire? The orthodox view among philosophers is eternalism: these are contents that have their truth-values eternally. Transient Truths provides the first book-length exposition and defense of the opposing view, temporalism: these are contents that can change their truth-values along with changes in the world. Berit Brogaard argues that temporal contents are contents and propositions in the full sense. This project involves a thorough analysis of how we talk about and retain mental states over time, an examination of how the phenomenology of mental states bears on the content of mental states, an analysis of how we pass on information in temporally extended conversations, and a revival of a Priorian tense logic. The view suggests a broader view according to which some types of representation have a determinate truth-value only relative to features about the subject who does the representing. If this view is right, successful semantic representation requires an eye on our own position in the world.
Barry Dainton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199288847
- eISBN:
- 9780191710742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288847.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter begins with a survey of the sorts of states and capacities to be found in typical human minds, focusing on the differing extents to which these have phenomenal aspects or manifestations. ...
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This chapter begins with a survey of the sorts of states and capacities to be found in typical human minds, focusing on the differing extents to which these have phenomenal aspects or manifestations. Addressing the question: ‘do zombies have minds?’ proves to be a useful way of clarifying this issue. The C-theory is augmented so as to accommodate the non-experiential aspects of mind. Two types of self are distinguished: phenomenal and non-phenomenal. This distinction proves useful when considering the question: ‘what matters in survival?’ It is argued that when psychological and experiential continuities diverge, our deepest identity-related concerns remain locked on to the latter. The same distinction also sheds useful light onto the intuitions evoked by imaginary scenarios featuring teleportation.Less
This chapter begins with a survey of the sorts of states and capacities to be found in typical human minds, focusing on the differing extents to which these have phenomenal aspects or manifestations. Addressing the question: ‘do zombies have minds?’ proves to be a useful way of clarifying this issue. The C-theory is augmented so as to accommodate the non-experiential aspects of mind. Two types of self are distinguished: phenomenal and non-phenomenal. This distinction proves useful when considering the question: ‘what matters in survival?’ It is argued that when psychological and experiential continuities diverge, our deepest identity-related concerns remain locked on to the latter. The same distinction also sheds useful light onto the intuitions evoked by imaginary scenarios featuring teleportation.
Donald Davidson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198237549
- eISBN:
- 9780191601378
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237545.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical ...
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Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical interpretation attributes to any creature, which can be said to have a mind. These problems are the nature and our understanding of value judgements, the adequacy conditions for attributing mental states to a being, and the problem of irrationality.The first four chapters apply Davidson's thesis that our interpretations of another person's mental states are a source of objectivity to value judgements: such judgements, Davidson argues in this section, are as objective as any judgement about the mind can be. Chs 5 to 10 develop Davidson's Unified Theory for interpreting thought, meaning, and action, the primary concern of this section being the specification of the minimal conditions for attributing mental states to an object or creature. Chs 11 to 14 deal primarily with the problems raised by those cognitive states and actions that seem to violate, in a fundamental way, the constraints of rationality. Since Davidson regards the constraints of rationality to be amongst the necessary conditions for both mind and interpretation, irrational thoughts, and actions pose a particular problem for his Unified Theory. The final four chapters attempt to remove the apparent contradiction.Less
Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical interpretation attributes to any creature, which can be said to have a mind. These problems are the nature and our understanding of value judgements, the adequacy conditions for attributing mental states to a being, and the problem of irrationality.
The first four chapters apply Davidson's thesis that our interpretations of another person's mental states are a source of objectivity to value judgements: such judgements, Davidson argues in this section, are as objective as any judgement about the mind can be. Chs 5 to 10 develop Davidson's Unified Theory for interpreting thought, meaning, and action, the primary concern of this section being the specification of the minimal conditions for attributing mental states to an object or creature. Chs 11 to 14 deal primarily with the problems raised by those cognitive states and actions that seem to violate, in a fundamental way, the constraints of rationality. Since Davidson regards the constraints of rationality to be amongst the necessary conditions for both mind and interpretation, irrational thoughts, and actions pose a particular problem for his Unified Theory. The final four chapters attempt to remove the apparent contradiction.
Nikolas Rose and Joelle M. Abi-Rached
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149608
- eISBN:
- 9781400846337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149608.003.0008
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Development
This chapter explores the neurobiological self. It argues that the emerging neuroscientific understandings of selfhood are unlikely to efface modern human beings' understanding of themselves as ...
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This chapter explores the neurobiological self. It argues that the emerging neuroscientific understandings of selfhood are unlikely to efface modern human beings' understanding of themselves as persons equipped with a deep interior world of mental states that have a causal relation to their action. Rather, they are likely to add a neurobiological dimension to human beings' self-understanding and their practices of self-management. In this sense, the “somatic individuality” which was once the province of the psy- sciences, is spreading to the neuro- sciences. Yet psy is not being displaced by neuro: neurobiological conceptions of the self are being construed alongside psychological ones.Less
This chapter explores the neurobiological self. It argues that the emerging neuroscientific understandings of selfhood are unlikely to efface modern human beings' understanding of themselves as persons equipped with a deep interior world of mental states that have a causal relation to their action. Rather, they are likely to add a neurobiological dimension to human beings' self-understanding and their practices of self-management. In this sense, the “somatic individuality” which was once the province of the psy- sciences, is spreading to the neuro- sciences. Yet psy is not being displaced by neuro: neurobiological conceptions of the self are being construed alongside psychological ones.
Peter Carruthers
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199277360
- eISBN:
- 9780191602597
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199277362.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book is a collection of essays about consciousness and related issues. It focuses mostly on developing, defending, and exploring the implications of one particular sort of reductive explanation ...
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This book is a collection of essays about consciousness and related issues. It focuses mostly on developing, defending, and exploring the implications of one particular sort of reductive explanation of phenomenal consciousness, which the author now refers to as ‘dual-content theory’. But other issues discussed include: the nature of reductive explanation in general; the nature of conscious thought and the plausibility of some form of eliminativism about conscious thought (while retaining realism about phenomenal consciousness); the appropriateness of sympathy for creatures whose mental states are not phenomenally conscious ones; and the psychological continuities and similarities that exist between minds that lack phenomenally conscious mental states and minds that possess them.Less
This book is a collection of essays about consciousness and related issues. It focuses mostly on developing, defending, and exploring the implications of one particular sort of reductive explanation of phenomenal consciousness, which the author now refers to as ‘dual-content theory’. But other issues discussed include: the nature of reductive explanation in general; the nature of conscious thought and the plausibility of some form of eliminativism about conscious thought (while retaining realism about phenomenal consciousness); the appropriateness of sympathy for creatures whose mental states are not phenomenally conscious ones; and the psychological continuities and similarities that exist between minds that lack phenomenally conscious mental states and minds that possess them.
William Hirstein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199231904
- eISBN:
- 9780191738319
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231904.003.0011
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter shows that mindmelding is metaphysically possible, i.e., that it does not violate any laws governing the metaphysical nature of reality. Metaphysical issues are fundamental and lie at ...
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This chapter shows that mindmelding is metaphysically possible, i.e., that it does not violate any laws governing the metaphysical nature of reality. Metaphysical issues are fundamental and lie at the core of the most difficult parts of the problems of privacy and the mind-body problem itself. There is nothing stopping us from placing the idea of mindmelding on clear, unproblematic, and plausible metaphysical foundations. It is argued that the position of privacy is the one on shaky metaphysical grounds. Two metaphysical theses are examined: the thesis of privacy, and the idea that all conscious states must have a subject, which is called ‘inseparability’ because it posits that the subject is inseparable from the conscious state.Less
This chapter shows that mindmelding is metaphysically possible, i.e., that it does not violate any laws governing the metaphysical nature of reality. Metaphysical issues are fundamental and lie at the core of the most difficult parts of the problems of privacy and the mind-body problem itself. There is nothing stopping us from placing the idea of mindmelding on clear, unproblematic, and plausible metaphysical foundations. It is argued that the position of privacy is the one on shaky metaphysical grounds. Two metaphysical theses are examined: the thesis of privacy, and the idea that all conscious states must have a subject, which is called ‘inseparability’ because it posits that the subject is inseparable from the conscious state.
Ryan Nichols
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199276912
- eISBN:
- 9780191707759
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276912.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter focuses on the nature of conceptual awareness. Reid characterizes the type of conceptual awareness of interest to his theory of perception as a special subspecies of conception, what he ...
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This chapter focuses on the nature of conceptual awareness. Reid characterizes the type of conceptual awareness of interest to his theory of perception as a special subspecies of conception, what he calls apprehension. Apprehension is responsible for the presentation of mind-independent objects directly to the mind. Reid describes the conceptual state that apprehension produces as an ‘immanent act of the mind’. This is an intentional state because it necessarily takes objects. Apprehensions thus differ from other mental states, such as moods, which are not intentional.Less
This chapter focuses on the nature of conceptual awareness. Reid characterizes the type of conceptual awareness of interest to his theory of perception as a special subspecies of conception, what he calls apprehension. Apprehension is responsible for the presentation of mind-independent objects directly to the mind. Reid describes the conceptual state that apprehension produces as an ‘immanent act of the mind’. This is an intentional state because it necessarily takes objects. Apprehensions thus differ from other mental states, such as moods, which are not intentional.
Dorit Bar-On
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199276288
- eISBN:
- 9780191602894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199276285.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
The final chapter explains how the Neo-Expressivist account developed meets the theoretical desiderata outlined in the introduction. It then offers reflections on possible implications of the account ...
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The final chapter explains how the Neo-Expressivist account developed meets the theoretical desiderata outlined in the introduction. It then offers reflections on possible implications of the account of avowals defended in the book for certain metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind. In particular, the author addresses the issue of the reality of mental states, and the extent to which mental states are ontologically independent of expressive behaviour.Less
The final chapter explains how the Neo-Expressivist account developed meets the theoretical desiderata outlined in the introduction. It then offers reflections on possible implications of the account of avowals defended in the book for certain metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind. In particular, the author addresses the issue of the reality of mental states, and the extent to which mental states are ontologically independent of expressive behaviour.
Timothy Williamson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256563
- eISBN:
- 9780191598678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925656X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The chapter proposes the view that knowing is a mental state. It is a factive mental state, in the sense that only truths are known; by contrast, believing is a non‐factive mental state, because both ...
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The chapter proposes the view that knowing is a mental state. It is a factive mental state, in the sense that only truths are known; by contrast, believing is a non‐factive mental state, because both truths and falsehoods are believed. Knowledge is the most general factive mental state, of which perception and memory are sub‐species. Knowledge cannot be given an analysis as a combination of belief, truth, and other factors. Rather, belief is to be understood in terms of knowledge in a way similar to what are known as disjunctive accounts of perception; to believe something is, roughly, to act as though one knew it; a successful belief is knowledge.Less
The chapter proposes the view that knowing is a mental state. It is a factive mental state, in the sense that only truths are known; by contrast, believing is a non‐factive mental state, because both truths and falsehoods are believed. Knowledge is the most general factive mental state, of which perception and memory are sub‐species. Knowledge cannot be given an analysis as a combination of belief, truth, and other factors. Rather, belief is to be understood in terms of knowledge in a way similar to what are known as disjunctive accounts of perception; to believe something is, roughly, to act as though one knew it; a successful belief is knowledge.
William Hirstein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199231904
- eISBN:
- 9780191738319
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231904.003.0012
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology
Humans are a species. We are guided by representations in everything we consciously do. Thinking, remembering, imagining, and decision-making involve not just the random play of thoughts and images ...
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Humans are a species. We are guided by representations in everything we consciously do. Thinking, remembering, imagining, and decision-making involve not just the random play of thoughts and images in our minds. These mental states are about events in the world. The thoughts and images represent real people and events the vast majority of the time. This chapter addresses the question: What is the relation between representation and consciousness? It sets off the alternative picture against views centered around the claim of privacy. It shows that the alternative approach gives a natural and coherent account of how mental states, events, and processes can represent events and things in the world. This provides an additional test of the coherence and effectiveness of the approach to consciousness, to self, and to mindmelding. Neuroscience can also shed light on what representing the world requires. The chapter also investigates cases in which brain damage has affected representational ability.Less
Humans are a species. We are guided by representations in everything we consciously do. Thinking, remembering, imagining, and decision-making involve not just the random play of thoughts and images in our minds. These mental states are about events in the world. The thoughts and images represent real people and events the vast majority of the time. This chapter addresses the question: What is the relation between representation and consciousness? It sets off the alternative picture against views centered around the claim of privacy. It shows that the alternative approach gives a natural and coherent account of how mental states, events, and processes can represent events and things in the world. This provides an additional test of the coherence and effectiveness of the approach to consciousness, to self, and to mindmelding. Neuroscience can also shed light on what representing the world requires. The chapter also investigates cases in which brain damage has affected representational ability.
Jerrold Levinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199206179
- eISBN:
- 9780191709982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206179.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This essay defends the analysis that music is expressive of an emotion or other mental state insofar as it induces one to hear it as the personal or personlike expression of that mental state. ...
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This essay defends the analysis that music is expressive of an emotion or other mental state insofar as it induces one to hear it as the personal or personlike expression of that mental state. Various competing theories of musical expressiveness, notably those of Malcolm Budd, Stephen Davies, Robert Stecker, and Roger Scruton, are submitted to critical examination.Less
This essay defends the analysis that music is expressive of an emotion or other mental state insofar as it induces one to hear it as the personal or personlike expression of that mental state. Various competing theories of musical expressiveness, notably those of Malcolm Budd, Stephen Davies, Robert Stecker, and Roger Scruton, are submitted to critical examination.
Virginia Slaughter and Candida C. Peterson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199592722
- eISBN:
- 9780191731488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592722.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology
Human social cognition is largely driven by the theory of mind (ToM), that is, our ability to think about others in terms of the mental states (feeling, wanting, knowing, etc.) that underlie their ...
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Human social cognition is largely driven by the theory of mind (ToM), that is, our ability to think about others in terms of the mental states (feeling, wanting, knowing, etc.) that underlie their behaviour. The effects of language on ToM can be seen in terms of children's exposure to conversations with parents and other partners — conversations that appear to be crucial to children's acquisition of mental state concepts and theory of mind vocabulary. But mental states are notoriously slippery concepts — they are subjective, abstract, and invisible. This chapter reviews correlational and training studies on the link between parents' mental state talk and young children's ability to pass ToM tasks. It reports work that highlights the extent to which some mothers, in particular, tailor their conversation to match and promote their children's knowledge in this domain. It shows that the richness of mothers' talk about mental states during the preschool years is linked to their children's emerging ToM. Specifically, mothers who regularly explain thought processes and how these cause behaviour often have children who are particularly advanced in their responses on stories designed to test ToM. The chapter proposes a clarifying analogy between the ‘motherese’ qualities language used by mothers in facilitating children's language development and mothers' mental state talk as a facilitating factor in acquiring mental state concepts and promoting reasoning about the causal links between mental states and people's actions.Less
Human social cognition is largely driven by the theory of mind (ToM), that is, our ability to think about others in terms of the mental states (feeling, wanting, knowing, etc.) that underlie their behaviour. The effects of language on ToM can be seen in terms of children's exposure to conversations with parents and other partners — conversations that appear to be crucial to children's acquisition of mental state concepts and theory of mind vocabulary. But mental states are notoriously slippery concepts — they are subjective, abstract, and invisible. This chapter reviews correlational and training studies on the link between parents' mental state talk and young children's ability to pass ToM tasks. It reports work that highlights the extent to which some mothers, in particular, tailor their conversation to match and promote their children's knowledge in this domain. It shows that the richness of mothers' talk about mental states during the preschool years is linked to their children's emerging ToM. Specifically, mothers who regularly explain thought processes and how these cause behaviour often have children who are particularly advanced in their responses on stories designed to test ToM. The chapter proposes a clarifying analogy between the ‘motherese’ qualities language used by mothers in facilitating children's language development and mothers' mental state talk as a facilitating factor in acquiring mental state concepts and promoting reasoning about the causal links between mental states and people's actions.
Tim Bayne
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199596492
- eISBN:
- 9780191745669
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199596492.003.0004
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Techniques, Development
Most animals have mental states of one sort or another, but few species share our capacity for self-awareness. We are aware of our own mental states via introspection, and we are aware of the mental ...
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Most animals have mental states of one sort or another, but few species share our capacity for self-awareness. We are aware of our own mental states via introspection, and we are aware of the mental states of our fellow human beings on the basis of what they do and say. This chapter is concerned with the prospects of a rather different and significantly more recent ‘mindreading’ capacity: the capacity to ascribe mental states to a creature based on information derived from neuroimaging. It analyzes the foundational issues that are likely to confront the use of any neuroimaging technology to read minds, no matter how sophisticated it may be.Less
Most animals have mental states of one sort or another, but few species share our capacity for self-awareness. We are aware of our own mental states via introspection, and we are aware of the mental states of our fellow human beings on the basis of what they do and say. This chapter is concerned with the prospects of a rather different and significantly more recent ‘mindreading’ capacity: the capacity to ascribe mental states to a creature based on information derived from neuroimaging. It analyzes the foundational issues that are likely to confront the use of any neuroimaging technology to read minds, no matter how sophisticated it may be.
Maria Alvarez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199550005
- eISBN:
- 9780191720239
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199550005.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter explores the relation between beliefs and motivating reasons. In it, an unusual interpretation of the claim that motivating reasons are beliefs is defended. On this interpretation, ...
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This chapter explores the relation between beliefs and motivating reasons. In it, an unusual interpretation of the claim that motivating reasons are beliefs is defended. On this interpretation, motivating reasons are true beliefs, that is, they are things that we believe that are true—that is to say, they are facts. In short, motivating reasons are facts. The chapter also disarms several objections associated with this view: that it cannot apply in cases where we are motivated to act by a false belief; that beliefs cannot motivate; etc. In particular, it is argued that although false beliefs can motivate, they are not motivating reasons: false beliefs, that is, apparent facts, are only apparent reasons. An important corollary of the claims about motivating reasons defended in this and the preceding two chapters is that, contrary to what the orthodoxy holds, motivating reasons are not mental states, for they are neither ‘believings’ nor ‘desirings’.Less
This chapter explores the relation between beliefs and motivating reasons. In it, an unusual interpretation of the claim that motivating reasons are beliefs is defended. On this interpretation, motivating reasons are true beliefs, that is, they are things that we believe that are true—that is to say, they are facts. In short, motivating reasons are facts. The chapter also disarms several objections associated with this view: that it cannot apply in cases where we are motivated to act by a false belief; that beliefs cannot motivate; etc. In particular, it is argued that although false beliefs can motivate, they are not motivating reasons: false beliefs, that is, apparent facts, are only apparent reasons.
An important corollary of the claims about motivating reasons defended in this and the preceding two chapters is that, contrary to what the orthodoxy holds, motivating reasons are not mental states, for they are neither ‘believings’ nor ‘desirings’.
Brian O'Shaughnessy
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256723
- eISBN:
- 9780191598135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256721.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Are there some mental phenomena for which insight is necessarily inexistent? The Freudian ‘Id’, and Schopenhauerian ‘Will’, have been joined in latter days by certain cerebral phenomena, all of which ...
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Are there some mental phenomena for which insight is necessarily inexistent? The Freudian ‘Id’, and Schopenhauerian ‘Will’, have been joined in latter days by certain cerebral phenomena, all of which have been claimed to be both necessarily inaccessible and mental. General principles of insight are sought whereby we may assess such claims. The main truth emerging is that all known mental phenomenal types are normally immediately insightable in states of proper waking consciousness, and that the only phenomenon that defies the rule is constituted out of insightables. While many mental causal relations are naturally and even necessarily inaccessible, it seems unlikely that any mental phenomenal processes could be. As a test case, the formation of the visual experience is investigated, to discover whether it includes such a mental process. No evidence for such is encountered. All mental processes seem in principle to be accessible to their owner, whether immediately qua experience or inferentially through their constituting state. The conditional‐Cartesian thesis seems intact.Less
Are there some mental phenomena for which insight is necessarily inexistent? The Freudian ‘Id’, and Schopenhauerian ‘Will’, have been joined in latter days by certain cerebral phenomena, all of which have been claimed to be both necessarily inaccessible and mental. General principles of insight are sought whereby we may assess such claims. The main truth emerging is that all known mental phenomenal types are normally immediately insightable in states of proper waking consciousness, and that the only phenomenon that defies the rule is constituted out of insightables. While many mental causal relations are naturally and even necessarily inaccessible, it seems unlikely that any mental phenomenal processes could be. As a test case, the formation of the visual experience is investigated, to discover whether it includes such a mental process. No evidence for such is encountered. All mental processes seem in principle to be accessible to their owner, whether immediately qua experience or inferentially through their constituting state. The conditional‐Cartesian thesis seems intact.
Stephen P. Stich
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195126662
- eISBN:
- 9780199868322
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195126661.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Eliminativism (or eliminative materialism) has been an important and provocative view in the philosophy of mind since the 1970s. Eliminativism claims that the mental states alluded to in our ordinary ...
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Eliminativism (or eliminative materialism) has been an important and provocative view in the philosophy of mind since the 1970s. Eliminativism claims that the mental states alluded to in our ordinary talk about the mind – particularly intentional states like beliefs, desires, and thoughts – are the posits of a badly mistaken “folk” theory, and thus, like phlogiston, witches and other posits of badly mistaken theories, they do not exist. This volume is a collection of essays that systematically examine the arguments for eliminativism. Ch. 2 illustrates the way in which connectionist models of belief and memory might be used to support the claim that folk psychology is a radically mistaken theory. Ch. 4 argues against the claim that simulation theory undermines the debate between eliminativists and their opponents. Chs. 3 and 5 argue that the case for the premises of the eliminativist argument is problematic in ways that have not been noted in previous discussions. The long title essay (Ch. 1) argues that, even if the premises are true, they do not support the eliminativist conclusion without the addition of some additional premise, and none of the additional premises that might fill the gap, are defensible. Though many writers rely on the theory of reference to fill the gap between premises and conclusion, it is argued that appeals to the theory of reference cannot do the ontological work required by the eliminativist argument.Less
Eliminativism (or eliminative materialism) has been an important and provocative view in the philosophy of mind since the 1970s. Eliminativism claims that the mental states alluded to in our ordinary talk about the mind – particularly intentional states like beliefs, desires, and thoughts – are the posits of a badly mistaken “folk” theory, and thus, like phlogiston, witches and other posits of badly mistaken theories, they do not exist. This volume is a collection of essays that systematically examine the arguments for eliminativism. Ch. 2 illustrates the way in which connectionist models of belief and memory might be used to support the claim that folk psychology is a radically mistaken theory. Ch. 4 argues against the claim that simulation theory undermines the debate between eliminativists and their opponents. Chs. 3 and 5 argue that the case for the premises of the eliminativist argument is problematic in ways that have not been noted in previous discussions. The long title essay (Ch. 1) argues that, even if the premises are true, they do not support the eliminativist conclusion without the addition of some additional premise, and none of the additional premises that might fill the gap, are defensible. Though many writers rely on the theory of reference to fill the gap between premises and conclusion, it is argued that appeals to the theory of reference cannot do the ontological work required by the eliminativist argument.
