Philosophy of Mind A Beginner's Guide

Designed specifically for students with no background knowledge in the subject, this accessible introduction covers all of the basic concepts and major theories in the philosophy of mind. Topics discussed include dualism, behaviorism, the identity theory, functionalism, the computational theory of mind, connectionism, physicalism, mental causation, and consciousness. The text is enhanced by chapter summaries, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and self-assessment questions.

Ian Ravenscroft completed his PhD at the Research School of Social Science, Australian National University. After spending a year teaching in the Philosophy Department at the University of Auckland, he became an ARC Research Associate at Flinders University. In 1998, Ian moved to the Philosophy Department at King's College London, where he directed the graduate program in the philosophy of mental disorder. He is now back at Flinders University.

Acknowledgements

x

Introduction

1

(8)

Part 1 What are mental states?

1 Dualism

9

(16)

1.1 Substance dualism

10

(1)

1.2 Arguments in favor of substance dualism

11

(5)

1.3 Arguments against substance dualism

16

(2)

1.4 Property dualism

18

(2)

1.5 Assessing epiphenomenalism

20

(2)

1.6 Conclusion

22

(3)

2 Behaviorism

25

(14)

2.1 Philosophical behaviorism

25

(1)

2.2 Arguments in favor of philosophical behaviorism

26

(4)

2.3 Arguments against philosophical behaviorism

30

(3)

2.4 What is methodological behaviorism?

33

(1)

2.5 Arguments for methodological behaviorism

34

(1)

2.6 Arguments against methodological behaviorism

35

(4)

3 The identity theory

39

(11)

3.1 More about the identity theory

39

(2)

3.2 Arguments in favor of the identity theory

41

(2)

3.3 Evidence from deficit studies

43

(1)

3.4 Arguments against the identity theory

44

(3)

3.5 Reductive and nonreductive physicalism

47

(1)

3.6 Conclusion

48

(2)

4 Functionalism

50

(14)

4.1 Introducing functionalism

50

(3)

4.2 Functionalism and brain states

53

(2)

4.3 Functionalism and the six features of mental states

55

(2)

4.4 Two famous arguments against functionalism

57

(5)

4.5 Conclusion

62

(2)

5 Eliminativism and fictionalism

64

(17)

5.1 From theory to reality

64

(1)

5.2 Introducing eliminativism

65

(2)

5.3 Eliminativism about mental states

67

(4)

5.4 Anti-eliminativist arguments

71

(1)

5.5 Fictionalism

72

(3)

5.6 Conclusion

75

(6)

Part 2 Mind as machine

6 The computational theory of mind

81

(16)

6.1 Syntax and semantics

81

(2)

6.2 What's a computer?

83

(1)

6.3 Turing machines

84

(3)

6.4 The computational theory of mind

87

(2)

6.5 The language of thought

89

(2)

6.6 The Chinese room

91

(3)

6.7 Conclusion

94

(3)

7 Connectionism

97

(20)

7.1 What connectionist networks are like

97

(4)

7.2 Some important properties of connectionist networks

101

(3)

7.3 Connectionism and the mind

104

(3)

7.4 Rationality, language, systematicity

107

(5)

7.5 Conclusion

112

(5)

Part 3 Mind in a physical world

8 Physicalism and supervenience

117

(8)

8.1 Physical properties

118

(1)

8.2 Introducing the supervenience approach to physicalism

118

(2)

8.3 Refining the supervenience approach to physicalism

120

(2)

8.4 A problem for the supervenience approach to physicalism?

122

(3)

9 Content

125

(19)

9.1 The resemblance theory

126

(1)

9.2 The causal theory

127

(3)

9.3 The teleological theory

130

(2)

9.4 Fodor's theory

132

(3)

9.5 Functional role theory

135

(4)

9.6 Wide or narrow?

139

(5)

10 Mental causation

144

(15)

10.1 The problem of causal exclusion

145

(2)

10.2 Responding to the problem of causal exclusion

147

(3)

10.3 The causal efficacy of content

150

(2)

10.4 Responding to the problem of the causal efficacy of content

152

(7)

Part 4 Consciousness

11 Varieties of consciousness

159

(12)

11.1 Phenomenal consciousness

159

(3)

11.2 Access consciousness

162

(2)

11.3 Is access a function of phenomenal consciousness?

164

(2)

11.4 Avoiding confusion

166

(2)

11.5 Other kinds of consciousness

168

(3)

12 Phenomenal consciousness

171

(19)

12.1 The knowledge argument

171

(3)

12.2 Responding to the knowledge argument

174

(6)

12.3 The explanatory gap

180

(3)

12.4 Can the explanatory gap be filled?

183

(2)

12.5 Functionalism and phenomenal consciousness

185

(2)

12.6 Concluding remarks

187

(3)

Appendix: Paper writing tips

190

(2)

Glossary

192

(4)

Some useful resources

196

(3)

References

199

(5)

Index

204

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Philosophy of Mind A Beginner's Guide

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials