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Mind Body Problem and Brandom's Analytic Pragmatism
The Mind-Body Problem and Brandom’s Analytic Pragmatism François-Igor Pris [email protected] Erfurt University (Nordhäuserstraße 63, 99089 Erfurt, Germany) Abstract. I propose to solve the hard problem in the philosophy of mind by means of Brandom‟s notion of the pragmatically mediated semantic relation. The explanatory gap between a phenomenal concept and the corresponding theoretical concept is a gap in the pragmatically mediated semantic relation between them. It is closed if we do not neglect the pragmatics. 1 Introduction In the second section, I will formulate the hard problem. In the third section, I will describe a pragmatic approach to the problem and propose to replace the classical non-normative physicalism/naturalism with a normative physicalism/naturalism of Wittgensteinian language games. In subsection 3.1, I will give a definition of a normative naturalism. In subsection 3.2, I will make some suggestions concerning an analytic interpretation of the second philosophy of Wittgenstein. In the fourth section, I will propose a solution to the hard problem within Brandom‟s analytic pragmatism by using the notion of the pragmatically mediated semantic relation. In the fifth section, I will make some suggestions about possible combinatorics related to pragmatically mediated semantic relations. In the sixth section, I will consider pragmatic and discursive versions of the mind-body identity M=B. In the last section, I will conclude that the explanatory gap is a gap in a pragmatically mediated semantic relation between B and M. It is closed if we do not neglect pragmatics. 2 The Hard Problem The hard problem in the philosophy of mind can be formulated as follows. -
Chapter 7 Mental Representation Mental Representation
Chapter 7 Mental Representation Mental Representation Mental representation is a systematic correspondence between some element of a target domain and some element of a modeling (or representation) domain. A representation, whether it be mental or any other, is a system of symbols. The system of symbols is isomorphic to another system (the represented system) so that conclusions drawn through the processing of the symbols in the representing system constitute valid inferences about the represented system. Isomorphic means `having the same form.' The following figure is a typical example of how we represent information mentally in our minds. Figure 8.12 A hierarchical network representation of concepts. Source: Collins and Quillian (1969) The cognitive psychologists have always agreed on the fact that human information processing depends on the mental representation of information; but there is a great disagreement with regard to the nature of this mental representation of information. Symbols are the representations that are amodal. They bear no necessary resemblance to the concept or percept they represent. The systematic correspondence between the two domains may be a matter of convention (only). For example, in algebra, we denote the different variables as x, y, z, and so on, but neither of these symbols have a direct resemblance to what they represent. Similarly, while solving a geometrical problem involving geometrical shapes, we might assign symbols such as A, B, or C to such geometrical shapes, even though these symbols do not have a direct resemblance to the shapes. Images are another way how the information can be represented in our minds. Images are basically representations that resemble what they represent in some non-arbitrary way. -
Mind-Body Dualism and Mental Causation
A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree by Examining Committee Members: ii ABSTRACT The Exclusion Argument for physicalism maintains that since every physical effect has a sufficient physical cause, and cases of causal overdetermination (wherein a single effect has more than one sufficient cause) are rare, it follows that if minds cause physical effects as frequently as they seem to, then minds must themselves be physical in nature. I contend that the Exclusion Argument fails to justify the rejection of interactionist dualism (the view that the mind is non-physical but causes physical effects). In support of this contention, I argue that the multiple realizability of mental properties and the phenomenal and intentional features of mental events give us reason to believe that mental properties and their instances are non-physical. I also maintain (a) that depending on how overdetermination is defined, the thesis that causal overdetermination is rare is either dubious or else consistent with interactionist dualism and the claim that every physical effect has a sufficient physical cause, and (b) that the claim that every physical effect has a sufficient physical cause is not clearly supported by current science. The premises of the Exclusion Argument are therefore too weak to justify the view that minds must be physical in order to cause physical effects as frequently as they seem to. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ii -
Magic, Semantics, and Putnam's Vat Brains
Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (««) t: [email protected] ;–tE. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2004.03.007 Magic, semantics, and Putnam’s vat brains Mark Sprevak Christina McLeish University of Edinburgh University of Cambridge Ït March «« In this paper we oòer an exegesis of Hilary Putnam’s classic argument against the brain-in-a-vat hypothesis oòered in his Reason, Truth and History (ÏÊÏ). In it, Putnam argues that we cannot be brains in a vat because the semantics of the situation make it incoherent for anyone to wonder whether they are a brain a vat.Putnam’s argument is that in order for ‘I am a brain in a vat’ to be true, the person uttering it would have to be able to refer successfully to those things: the vat, and the envatted brain. Putnam thinks that reference can’t be secured without relevant kinds of causal relations, which, if envatted, the brain would lack, and so, it fails to be able to meaningfully utter ‘I am a brain in a vat’. We consider the implications of Putnam’s arguments for the traditional sceptic. In conclusion, we discuss the role of Putnam’s arguments against the brain in a vat hypothesis in his larger defense of his own internal realism against metaphysical realism. Ï Introduction Consider the possibility, familiar to us in many guises, that instead of being a living breathing human, you are a brain in a vat. Almost everything that you believe about the external world is false. Your body, your friends, your family, your home—none of these things exist. -
Mind/Body Overview
Mind/Body Overview 1. Physics and Folk Psychology a. Physics: hard-nosed, particles, observables, repeatable b. Folk Psychology: Beliefs, hopes, desires, sensations, subjective, consciousness 2. Issues a. Ontological 1. What are mental states and processes? 2. What are physical states and processes? 3. How are the mental and physical related? 4. Example: Replace NS with silicon starting at retina. Still conscious? b. Semantical 1. Where do propositional attitudes get their meanings? Ex: Belief; Belief that p. 2. Where do qualia get their meanings? Ex: pain, red, warmth 3. Where do other terms get their meanings? Ex: horse, electron c. Epistemological 1. How do we know anything? 2. How do we know if something has a mind? (Problem of other minds) 3. How do I know my own mental states? (Problem of self-consciousness) d. Methodological 1. What are appropriate methods for studying psychology? 2. What determines their propriety? 3. Ontologies a. Substance Dualism 1. Descartes: Mind is a distinct substance from matter 2. Matter: extended in space; has length, width, breadth, and position. 1 3. Mind: essence is thinking; has no extension or position in space. 4. Reasons: how could matter ever use language or reason mathematically? 5. Problem: How can mind interact with matter, and not violate conservation laws? 6. Problem: Electrons have no extension or determinate postion in space. Yet physical. 7. Eccles and Popper: mind affects probabilities of exocytosis at all synapses b. Popular Dualism 1. Mind is a “ghost in a machine”; machine=body; mind=spiritual substance 2. Mind is inside body (probably brain) 3. Mind interacts with brain by some form of energy exchange 4. -
The “Supervenience Argument”: Kim's Challenge to Nonreductive Physicalism
The “Supervenience Argument”: Kim’s Challenge to Nonreductive Physicalism AUSONIO MARRAS University of Western Ontario [email protected] JUHANI YLI-VAKKURI McGill University [email protected] ABSTRACT. Jaegwon Kim’s “supervenience argument” purports to show that epiphenomenalism about the mental follows from premises that any nonreductive physicalist should find acceptable. Kim regards his argument as a reductio ad absurdum of nonreductive physicalism. We reconstruct and evaluate the latest version of Kim’s argument. We argue that the premises of Kim’s argument are much less innocent than they may appear. In particular, we single out for criticism an unstated assumption about the identity conditions of events, and we argue that this assumption could be seen as all by itself implying that nonreductive physicalism is false, thus begging the question against that position. It is also dubious, we argue, whether Kim’s unstated assumption is even consistent with one of the stated assumptions of his argument, “the principle of causal exclusion”, given a standard understanding of causal overdetermination. We conclude with some polemical remarks about the conception of causation presupposed by Kim’s argument—a conception that appears to depart from that at work in science and commonsense discourse. 1. Introduction1 Many philosophers have worried that physical causation may “exclude” mental causation—physical and mental causes “compete” for efficacy, and because of some principle (the causal closure of the physical domain, for example), physical causes inevitably “win”. This picturesque language is common, but explicit arguments, which identify prima facie plausible principles from which epiphenomenalism about the mental would logically 1 We would like to thank Ian Gold for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. -
A DEFENSE of NON-REDUCTIVE PHYSICALISM a Dissertation
A DEFENSE OF NON-REDUCTIVE PHYSICALISM A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Matthew Christian Haug May 2007 © 2007 Matthew Christian Haug A DEFENSE OF NON-REDUCTIVE PHYSICALISM Matthew Christian Haug, Ph. D. Cornell University 2007 I develop a novel formulation of, and argument for, non-reductive physicalism – roughly, the view that mental properties are natural properties that are realized by, but not identical to, neural and other low-level physical properties. Non-reductive physicalism has long been the dominant view in the philosophy of mind but has recently been challenged from two main directions. The first type of attack, the causal exclusion problem, points out an apparent inconsistency in non-reductive physicalism. The second type of attack focuses on the multiple realizability of mental properties: questioning either its prevalence or its efficacy in blocking reduction. In response to the exclusion problem, I first argue that one of the claims used to formulate the problem, the completeness of physics, has two parts and that there is no single domain of physical entities that is the smallest domain of which both parts are true. The conflation of these two parts has made it appear that non-reductive physicalism is inconsistent. I then show how to use the two completeness claims as part of an argument for a form of physicalism that need not be reductive. In response to the second type of attack, I provide a novel basis for the irreducibility of mental properties. -
Perception and Representation in Leibniz
PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION IN LEIBNIZ by Stephen Montague Puryear B.S., Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1994 M.A., Philosophy, Texas A&M University, 2000 M.A., Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY This dissertation was presented by Stephen Montague Puryear It was defended on December 5, 2005 and approved by Nicholas Rescher University Professor of Philosophy Robert B. Brandom Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy Stephen Engstrom Associate Professor of Philosophy J. E. McGuire Professor of History and Philosophy of Science Dissertation Director: Nicholas Rescher University Professor of Philosophy ii Copyright °c by Stephen Montague Puryear 2006 iii PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION IN LEIBNIZ Stephen Montague Puryear, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2006 Though Leibniz’s views about perception and representation go to the heart of his philosophy, they have received surprisingly little attention over the years and in many ways continue to be poorly understood. I aim to redress these shortcomings. The body of the work begins with an exploration of Leibniz’s proposed analysis of representation (Chapter 2). Here I argue that on this analysis representation consists in a kind of structural correspondence— roughly an isomorphism—between representation and thing represented. Special attention is given to the application of this analysis to the challenging cases of linguistic and mental representation. The next two chapters concern what I take to be the central issue of the work: the nature of distinct perception. -
What Could Anti-Realism About Ordinary Psychology Possibly Be?*
Draft for NYU Mind and Language Seminar, April 3, 2001. Not for further circulation. What Could Anti-Realism About Ordinary Psychology Possibly Be?* CRISPIN WRIGHT University of St. Andrews and Columbia University 1 Descartes observed that you could not lucidly doubt that you exist nor that you are a thinking thing. It would follow that there can be no lucid doubt about the reality of those psychological states and attributes whose possession is distinctive of thinkers, par excellence their being subject to the various kinds of doxastic and conative states involved in goal-directed thought. Thus it seems a short step from the Cogito to a form of realism about ordinary psychology. Yet many leading modern philosophers—for instance, Dennett, Stich, the Churchlands and, above all, Quine—have been united, notwithstanding other differences, in a tendency to scepticism about the reality of (explanation in terms of) intentional states. The connection with the Cogito explains why such scepticism seems like a contradiction of the obvious. It seems to flout the characteristic self-evidence of intentional states—the fact that a subject’s being in such a state is, as it seems, in typical cases effortlessly, non-empirically and non- inferentially available to them. Surely each of us does have—really have—beliefs, desires, hopes, intentions, wishes, and so on. Can't we each just tell that we do? Don't we do so all the time? * Specific acknowledgements are footnoted in the normal way but I'd like to record one general debt at the outset. My paper is in effect a sequel to Paul Boghossian's "The Status of Content", The Philosophical Review XCIX (1990), pp. -
Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz 1
This article was downloaded by: [Stanford University Libraries] On: 24 September 2012, At: 17:23 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK British Journal for the History of Philosophy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbjh20 Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz Shane Duarte a a Stanford University, Version of record first published: 22 Sep 2009. To cite this article: Shane Duarte (2009): Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz , British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 17:4, 705-733 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09608780903135089 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 17(4) 2009: 705–733 ARTICLE IDEAS AND CONFUSION IN LEIBNIZ1 Shane Duarte I. -
On Physical Multiple Realization
ON PHYSICAL MULTIPLE REALIZATION BY RONALD P. ENDICOTT Perhaps no argument has done more to set the direction of contemporary philosophy of mind than the “multiple realizability argument.” First championed by Hilary Putnam and later reformulated by Jerry Fodor, the argument begins with the observation that a given psychological property can be realized by any number of diverse physical systems, and then ends with the conclusion that psychological properties are irreducible vis-à-vis the physical sciences.^ Its target, in other words, is type physicalism and the unity of science, as traditionally conceived. According to one popular criticism, however, the multiple realizability argument has been discredited by the fact that physical properties are also multiply realized} But this, I believe, is a mistake. While the criticism does serve to bring a number of important issues into better focus, it can be shown that the facts about physical multiple realization are perfectly consistent with the Putnam-Fodor style argument, and that, when such facts are rightly understood, they do not vitiate the original point about the irreducibility of psychological properties. /. Multiple Realization In spite of much talk about multiple realization, philosophers have generally been content to leave this central concept unanalyzed. I shall try to remedy this situation by indicating the two most salient features of the concept. First, there is the idea that a property is realized by a number of diverse states, which I take to mean that different state types can provide lawfully sufficient conditions for the instantiation of the multiply realized property. And second, there is the idea that among this range of diverse Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 70 (1989) 212-224 0279-0750/89/0300-0212 $01.30 Copyright © 1989 University of Southern California ON PHYSICAL MULTIPLE REALIZATION 213 states, there are no lawfully necessary and sufficient conditions for the instantiation of that property. -
Information and Mental Representation †
Proceedings Information and Mental Representation † Wei Jiang School of Marxism, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China; [email protected] † Presented at the Fourth International Conference on Philosophy of Information, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2–6 June 2019. Published: 11 June 2020 Abstract: Information has been used to explain mental representation. However, whether it succeeds in explaining the mentality of mental representation is an issue. In my view, although there are some advantages of this approach, mental representation cannot be reduced to informational processes for two reasons. First, informational processes cannot cover the distinctively subjective feature of mental representation, Second, informational processes cannot characterize the semantic properties of mental representation. Furthermore, I have some doubts regarding the intelligence of AI based on the problems of the informational approach to mental representation. Keywords: information; mental representation; semantic 1. Introduction Informational processes have been considered as a common way to explain mental representation. However, whether it is able to go further to cover the special features of mental representation, apart from explaining the underlying process, is still an issue. I stand for a negative point of view that the informational approach is not a successful and complete approach to explain mental representation, which probably thereafter sheds light on the non-intelligence of AI. 2. Background Mental representation has been one of the central issues in the philosophy of the mind. It refers to mental phenomena that have mental content. There are many examples of mental representation in our daily life, such as mental pictures, perception, belief, desire, imagination, memory, and so on.