An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind - Perception

... colour and shape of the tree and of the house, the intervening ground between them, the sky behind them, and other objects in their vicinity (together with their colours and shapes). And these other ... to a philosophical analysis of the concept of perception and what properly belongs to an empir- ical theory of perception of the sort that is more appropri- ately advanced and evaluated by scientific ... dif- An introduction to the philosophy of mind1 36 ficult question to answer. We can, however, begin to get a grip on it by drawing on some of the findings of the previous chapter. We noted there...

... of Being (1989),Locke on Human Understanding (1995), Subjects of Experience(1996) and The Possibility of Metaphysics (1998). AN INTRODUCTION TO THEPHILOSOPHY OF MIND AN INTRODUCTIONTO THE PHILOSOPHYOF ... 20042000(netLibrary)©ContentsPrefacepagexi 1Introduction1 Empiricalpsychologyandphilosophicalanalysis2Metaphysicsandthephilosophyofmind3Abriefguidetotherestofthisbook62Minds,bodiesandpeople8Cartesiandualism9Theconceivabilityargument11Thedivisibilityargument13Non-Cartesiandualism15Arepersonssimplesubstances?18Conceptualobjectionstodualisticinteraction21Empiricalobjectionstodualisticinteraction24Thecausalclosureargument26Objectionstothecausalclosureargument29Otherargumentsforandagainstphysicalism32Conclusions363Mentalstates39Propositionalattitudestates40Behaviourismanditsproblems41Functionalism44Functionalismandpsychophysicalidentitytheories48Theproblemofconsciousness51Qualiaandtheinvertedspectrumargument53Somepossibleresponsestotheinvertedspectrumargument55Theabsentqualiaargumentandtwonotionsofconsciousness59Eliminativematerialismand‘folkpsychology’61Someresponsestoeliminativematerialism64Conclusions66viiContentsviii4Mentalcontent69Propositions70Thecausalrelevanceofcontent74Theindividuationofcontent79Externalisminthephilosophyofmind82Broadversusnarrowcontent84Content,representationandcausality89Misrepresentationandnormality92Theteleologicalapproachtorepresentation95Objectionstoateleologicalaccountofmentalcontent99Conclusions1005Sensationandappearance102Appearanceandreality103Sense-datumtheoriesandtheargumentfromillusion107Otherargumentsforsense-data110Objectionstosense-datumtheories112Theadverbialtheoryofsensation114Theadverbialtheoryandsense-data116Primaryandsecondaryqualities119Sense-datumtheoriesandtheprimary/secondarydistinction121Anadverbialversionoftheprimary/secondarydistinction125Docolour-propertiesreallyexist?126Conclusions128 6Perception1 30Perceptualexperienceandperceptualcontent131Perceptualcontent,appearanceandqualia135Perceptionandcausation137Objectionstocausaltheoriesofperception143Thedisjunctivetheoryofperception145Thecomputationalandecologicalapproachestoperception149Consciousness,experienceand‘blindsight’155Conclusions1587Thoughtandlanguage160Modesofmentalrepresentation16 2The languageofthought’hypothesis164Analogueversusdigitalrepresentation167Imaginationandmentalimagery169Thoughtandcommunication175Doanimalsthink?178Naturallanguageandconceptualschemes183Contents ... 20042000(netLibrary)©ContentsPrefacepagexi 1Introduction1 Empiricalpsychologyandphilosophicalanalysis2Metaphysicsandthephilosophyofmind3Abriefguidetotherestofthisbook62Minds,bodiesandpeople8Cartesiandualism9Theconceivabilityargument11Thedivisibilityargument13Non-Cartesiandualism15Arepersonssimplesubstances?18Conceptualobjectionstodualisticinteraction21Empiricalobjectionstodualisticinteraction24Thecausalclosureargument26Objectionstothecausalclosureargument29Otherargumentsforandagainstphysicalism32Conclusions363Mentalstates39Propositionalattitudestates40Behaviourismanditsproblems41Functionalism44Functionalismandpsychophysicalidentitytheories48Theproblemofconsciousness51Qualiaandtheinvertedspectrumargument53Somepossibleresponsestotheinvertedspectrumargument55Theabsentqualiaargumentandtwonotionsofconsciousness59Eliminativematerialismand‘folkpsychology’61Someresponsestoeliminativematerialism64Conclusions66viiContentsviii4Mentalcontent69Propositions70Thecausalrelevanceofcontent74Theindividuationofcontent79Externalisminthephilosophyofmind82Broadversusnarrowcontent84Content,representationandcausality89Misrepresentationandnormality92Theteleologicalapproachtorepresentation95Objectionstoateleologicalaccountofmentalcontent99Conclusions1005Sensationandappearance102Appearanceandreality103Sense-datumtheoriesandtheargumentfromillusion107Otherargumentsforsense-data110Objectionstosense-datumtheories112Theadverbialtheoryofsensation114Theadverbialtheoryandsense-data116Primaryandsecondaryqualities119Sense-datumtheoriesandtheprimary/secondarydistinction121Anadverbialversionoftheprimary/secondarydistinction125Docolour-propertiesreallyexist?126Conclusions128 6Perception1 30Perceptualexperienceandperceptualcontent131Perceptualcontent,appearanceandqualia135Perceptionandcausation137Objectionstocausaltheoriesofperception143Thedisjunctivetheoryofperception145Thecomputationalandecologicalapproachestoperception149Consciousness,experienceand‘blindsight’155Conclusions1587Thoughtandlanguage160Modesofmentalrepresentation16 2The languageofthought’hypothesis164Analogueversusdigitalrepresentation167Imaginationandmentalimagery169Thoughtandcommunication175Doanimalsthink?178Naturallanguageandconceptualschemes183Contents...

... possible. And the provision of just such a conception is one of the principal tasks of metaphysics. 3 The point of these remarks is to emphasise there cannot be progress either in the philosophy of mind ... philosophical analysis of the concept of seeing: but each will have more credibility to the extent that it is consistent with the other. METAPHYSICS AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND The philosophy of mind is not ... they say about this. Secondly, if they mean to abandon reasoned argument alto- gether, even in defence of their own position, then I have Introduction 5 nothing more to say to them because they...

... propositions appear to be abstract entities, more akin to the objects of mathemat- ics than to anything found in the concrete realm of psycho- logy, it seems altogether mysterious that states of mind should ... propositional attitude An introduction to the philosophy of mind7 4 states. And let us then see whether this hypothesis gives rise to any insuperable difficulties. THE CAUSAL RELEVANCE OF CONTENT A problem ... Crane, An Alleged Analogy between Numbers and Propositions’, Analysis 50 (1990), pp. 224–30. An introduction to the philosophy of mind7 6 uniquely serves to specify the magnitude of such a quantity:...

... some of its proponents regarding it more as an account of our concepts of mental states than as a theory of the nature of mental states themselves. An introduction to the philosophy of mind5 2 ... states of consciousness to other human beings, so that to deny consciousness to the hypothetical pile of pebbles in the circumstances envisaged would be to succumb to narrow-minded prejudice, of the ... present book. An introduction to the philosophy of mind5 0 suitable pattern of causal relationships, as may the states of a bundle of human neurones, or the states of a piece of com- puting machinery,...

... because it allows the animal to restore the effectiveness of its core regula-tory systems. At the same time, the brain mind is off-line and free to reorganize its cognitive repertoire as well as ... release and/or heightened effectiveness of dopamine), we can hypothe-size an indirect but positive interaction with the other modula-tors of the awake state, noradrenaline and serotonin, and a ... three of these motor behaviours are a function of the activation of the move-ment systems in subcortical brain tissue the motor pattern generators (or MPGs) that are referred to in Chapter 4. The...

... "man" of the Archbishop of Rheims. He was also the vassal of the Archbishop of Sens, of four other neighboring bishops, and of the abbot of the great monastery of St. Denis. To all of these ... combine the idea of the comitatus with the idea of the beneficium, and to grant the usufruct of parcels of their land on condition that the grantee should be true, loyal, and helpful to them, that ... Carolingians and the house of Odo. As we have seen, the aristocracy of the northern part of the West-Frankish kingdom chose (in 888) as their king, in place of the incompetent Charles the Fat, the...

... α −β and β/ α −β .Figure 2.6 illustrates how the relative values of α and β affect the asymp-totic growth of the function. Boxes in the gures correspond to problem sizesfor a divide-and-conquer ... dened only on the integers. Puttingthese together, we get a result that is useful for the analysis of a variety of algorithms.eorem 2.6 (Divide-and-conquer sequences). If a divide-and-conqueralgorithm ... with them. Under-standing an algorithm sufficiently well to be able to develop a recurrence rela-tion describing an important performance characteristic is often an importantrst step in analyzing...

... III THE GERMAN INVASIONS AND THE BREAK-UP OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE[Sidenote: The Huns force the Goths into the Empire. Battle of Adrianople, 378.]9. Previous to the year 375 the attempts of the ... Germans to penetrate into the Empire appear to have been due to their love of adventure, their hope of enjoying some of the advantages of their civilized neighbors, or the need of new lands for their ... than any of the other Germanraces. Besides the kingdoms of the East Goths and the Franks, the West Goths had their kingdom in Spain, the Burgundians had established themselves on the Rhone, and...

... measurements of the ratio of the wavelength of a line of Mg+ to that of a line of H can be used to determine whether the ratio of electron to protonmass is changing in time. With what accuracies do the ... relative to the Earth. The overall relative velocity is the sum of the rotational velocity of the Earth, the velocity of the Earth round the Sun and the Solar System around the centre of the Galaxy, ... encompasses the Virgo cluster and contains of the order of 103galaxies. The light curves of the Cepheids give the distance to their host galaxy and calibrate the luminosity of the host. If necessary the brightest...