introphil_Week 3 - Minds, Brains and Computers_Wk3 slides Minds, Brains and Computers
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René Descartes 1596 - 1650
Substance
Dualism
Also known as Cartesian dualism
Minds consist in a fundamentally different stuff to matter.
The problem of causation
Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, 1643
Only material stuff can cause other material stuff to change.
If minds are immaterial, how can they cause changes in the material stuff?
Materialism
Minds and bodies are both made of physical stuff
behaviourism |
Functionalism |
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Identity theory
Logical behaviourism
Gilbert Ryle
The Concept of Mind
1949
• Mental states are not inner states
• They consist in behaviours and dispositions to behave.
Identity theory
Mental states are identical to brain states.
If two things are physically identical, then they will be psychologically identical.
Multiple realisability
Putnam, 1967
Ouch!
Sensory input |
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Psychological states |
e.g. smell of |
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e.g. belief that I’m |
chocolate |
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Behaviour |
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Psychological states |
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e.g. preparing to go |
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e.g. desire to find my |
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out to the shops |
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coat |
can go out) |
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Alan Turing
19121954
The Imitation
Game (1950)
John Searle: The Chinese Room (1980)