Introduction to Philosophy of Mind

Minds …are conscious …have content …are something to which we have direct, infallible, first-person access.

The Mind-Body Problem Physicalism: Everything is ultimately physical. Anti-Reductionism: Minds cannot be reduced to the physical. Mental Realism: There are minds. Dualism Descartes, Berkeley Reductionism Ryle, Smart, Putnam, etc., etc. Eliminativism Stich, Churchalnds

Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy

Minds …are conscious …have content …are something to which we have direct, infallible, first-person access.

Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy

Philosophy of Mind and Science

Philosophers mounted some interesting speculations about the mind in times past but we are now in a position where we can get out of the armchair and do real science on these things. Philosophy, imaginative and entertaining though it can be, has been relegated to the dustbin of history. There is still something to logic and maybe ethics but the rest of philosophy has been superceded by science. -Andrew Brook, “Philosophy in and Philosophy of Cognitive Science”

C-fiber firing = whatever the neural correlate of pain is in humans

The Identity Explanation: Pain is identical to C-fiber firing.

The Causal Explanation: Pain is caused by C-fiber firing (or vice versa).

The Constitutional Explanation: Pain is at least partly constituted by C-fiber firing.

The best minds in philosophy – some of the best outside of philosophy as well – have turned their attention to these issues and there remains a notable lack of anything resembling a definitive, uncontested view of the mind’s place in nature…

Progress in philosophy, like progress in any domain can be measured in two ways. You can focus on some definite goal, and ask yourself whether you [achieved] that goal. But you can also ask yourself how far you have come from your starting point. And, on this count, philosophy can be said to move forward. -John Heil Philosophy of Mind