Responses to the Doctrine of Mind-Brain Identity Essay...

Responses to the Doctrine of Mind-Brain Identity To be in pain is, for example, is to have ones c-fibres, or more likely a-fibres, firing in the central nervous system; to believe that broccoli will kill you is to have ones B(bk)-fibres firing, and so on. The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy:Chapter 5 Philosophy of Mind by William G. Lycan The theory or doctrine of mind-brain identity, as its name implies, denies the claim of dualists that mind and brain (or consciousness and matter) are distinct substances. The tradition of dualism, whose clear-cut foundations laid by Rene Descartes (1596-1650) were built upon during succeeding centuries, sharply distinguishes between the stuff of consciousness and the stuff of matter.†¦show more content†¦Scientific investigation by the rules of its own procedures is limited to the study of the physical, the spatial, the quantifiable, and thus can never come into contact with the non-physical, the mental. This is the doctrine which the mind-brain identity theory denies and seeks to refute. Its counter-claim is that mind and brain are one and the same entity, in short, that mental states are brain states. Why, then, from this perspective, has the dualist been mistaken? He may have been confused into believing that one thing is two things by the fact that it has two names. For example, while the Morning Star and the Evening Star appear by their different names to denote different things, in fact, astronomical studies reveal them to be the same (in fact, the planet Venus). Water is a different name from H20 but there is no difference at all in the physical substance which both names label. Scientific research has revealed previously hidden identities: that the temperature of a gas is the mean kinetic energy of its molecules; that light is electromagnetic radiation. In a similar way research in neuroscience is expected to show that the sound of a vacuum cleaner, a pang of hunger, the tast e of mustard are nothing more or less than the firing of certain neurons. The identity theory is not concerned to find neural correlations for mental states for brain states are everything that is meant by mental states. When I complain of a pain, then, whether or not IShow MoreRelatedThe Mind And Body Problem1443 Words   |  6 Pagesnormal human brain. Body: It is reasonable to think that the patient has the usual range of mental states because she is behaviourally indistinguishable from a normal human. Behaviours make mental states more evidentially obvious than knowing the brain state of a patient or if they have a Cartesian soul or not. Doctor 4 provides the argument that since the patient is behaviourally indistinguishable from a normal human, she has the usual range of mental states. Gilbert Ryle’s view on the mind and bodyRead MoreThe Mind-Body Problem of Physicalism1731 Words   |  7 Pagesassociated with the mind-body problem in philosophy of mind , regarding which physicalism holds that all that has been ascribed to mind is more correctly ascribed to brain or the activity of the brain. The mind-body problem is the problem of explaining how our mental states, events and processes—like beliefs, actions and thinking—are related to the physical states, events and processes in our bodies. A long tradition in philosophy has held, with Renà © Descartes, that the mind must be a non-bodilyRead MoreThe Existence Of The Mind And The Brain Essay1703 Words   |  7 PagesThey Identity theory is a creation from the main philosophical branch â€Å"Materialism† established as a response to de velopment of psychology and its correlation to the physical sciences in the mid-20th century. The doctrine essentially proposes that types (or kinds, or classes) of mental states (M) are identical with types (or kinds, or classes) of physical states (P) such that M=P. Advocates of this theory propose that this assertion is a dependent element in regards to the nature of the mind andRead MoreEssay on Consciousness As Determined Th1030 Words   |  5 Pagesphilosopher John Locke as quot;the perception of what passes in a man’s own mindquot;.1 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Consciousness is defined and perceived differently in many psychological view points. For instance the earlier views around the 19th century was diversely considered. Most perceived consciousness as a substance or quot;mental stuffquot; unlike an object from the physical world. Others deferred that the conscious mind was what separated man from lower forms of life. It is an attributeRead More Fodors Functionalism Essay1314 Words   |  6 PagesFodor begins his article on the mind-body problem with a review of the current theories of dualism and materialism. According to dualism, the mind and body are two separate entities with the body being physical and the mind being nonphysical. If this is the case, though, then there can be no interaction between the two. The mind could not influence anything physical without violating the laws of physics. The materialist theory, on the other hand, states that the mind is not distinct from the physicalRead MoreThe Philos ophy Of Human Nature1534 Words   |  7 Pageshuman identity. In Eastern culture, people gravitated towards more positive outlooks on the true disposition of the hominid species. Esteemed for his exercise of nonviolent resistance, Indian leader and activist, Mahatma Gandhi famously stated â€Å"Man s nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.† In Chinese culture, too, humans had long been considered to be essentially good, under the idealistic doctrines of ConfuciusRead MoreLife after Death, Reincarnation, Resurrection and Immortality of the Soul1735 Words   |  7 Pages claim to be someone else reborn and to remember the previous life. Let us consider some of the most serious objections that are raised against reincarnation. The first has to do with the equivocal nature of the evidence for the doctrine. Such phenomena as instincts, child prodigies, love at first sight, and dà ©jà   vu are sometimes said to be evidence for reincarnation, but they have little probative value, since it is quite possible to give convincing explanations of these Read MoreThe Effects Of Administering Advantages Of Medications1682 Words   |  7 Pagesexperimentation on animals, the results of medication given is likely to produce the same effects in human as in animals. Moreover, the experimentations are normally conducted in animals with abnormal production of the animal body part such as the brain, kidney, heart and other organs. Medications can also be administered subcutaneously, these medications in human are given underneath the skin. For example, when humans are being tested for tuberculosis, they are given an injection slightly underneathRead MoreTraumatic Effects And Responses Of The United States2866 Words   |  12 PagesTraumatic Effects and Responses Abstract There have been growing cases of traumatic effects and responses in the United States. While most agree that this increasing incident deserves concrete attention, consensus dissolves around how to handle the difficulties of handling traumatic effects and responses. This research paper will discuss the traumatic effects and responses with its related difficulties and treatment options with the inclusion of biblical concepts and principles. From a medical perspectiveRead MoreAggression Is a Basic Instinct in Animal While Its a Learned Behaviour in Human Being1757 Words   |  8 Pagesinherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular complex behavior. The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern, in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a clearly defined stimulus. An instinctive behavior of shaking water from wet fur. A baby leatherback turtle makes its way to the open ocean Any behavior is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience (that