The Part Problem People talk about the mind-brain problem, but that is strictly inaccurate. The problem isn’t about how the brain as a whole produces consciousness; it’s about how some of it does. It isn’t about how the brain differs from other bodily organs; it’s about how certain parts of it do. The various parts […]
Searle on Mind and Brain Searle maintained that the mind is a higher-level property of the brain, not a separate substance. There is only the physical world with higher- and lower-level descriptions. This is his solution to the mind-body problem. He liked to compare the mental to the liquid: there is only a world of […]
Animal Induction Hume argued that induction is based on custom not reason. We believe in induction because we are psychologically built that way by nature not by ratiocination. He could have cited the case of animals: they act according to induction by instinct; they were not taught to do so or employ a priori reflection. […]
Allegations and Obituaries Anybody can make any allegation against anyone. It means nothing. Allegations are not evidence. This is obvious, though often forgotten. The OUP gives us: “a claim that someone has done something wrong, typically an unfounded one”. An allegation is a claim not a report, an assertion not a fact. It is as […]
Competitive Philosophy There are two kinds of philosophy: competitive and excellent. These are quite different. In the former kind, people are rewarded for being better than other people (by some standard); in the latter kind, they are rewarded for doing excellent work. Clearly, it is possible to succeed at the former while being lousy at […]
Functionalism and Materialism We have been told that mental states admit of multiple realization; this is the heart of the functionalist doctrine. Keep the function while letting the matter vary and you keep the mental state. The idea is not without merit; function must surely be part of what matters to mind. Pain could not […]
