Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

©2018 of 126 a mental state does not depend on its internal constitution, but rather the way it functions, or the role it plays, in the system of which it is a part. Providing a complete analysis of the self means not only identifying the fundamental stimulus/behavioral response connection, but also describing the network of mental states, activities, and processes that are an integral part of the casual connection between the original stimulus and behavioral response. 4.11 Paul Churchland: Eliminative Materialism Paul Churchland was a contemporary philosopher who articulated the vision that a simple identity formula mental status in which brain states is a flawed way in which to conceptualize the relationship between the mind and the brain. Exploring the mind/brain relationship is leading scientists to correlate specific areas in the brain with areas of mental functioning, both cognitively and emotionally. To fully understand the nature of the mind, we have to fully understand the nature of the brain. Churchland referred to the view of eliminative materialism, which is the claim that our ordinary commonsense understanding of the mind is deeply wrong and that some or all of the mental states posited by common sense do not actually exist. Churchland’s central argument is that the concepts and theoretical vocabulary we use to think about ourselves such as belief, desire, fear, sensation, pain, and joy actually misrepresent the reality of minds and selves. All of these concepts are part of s commonsense “folk psychology” that obscures rather than clarifies the nature of human experience; we need to develop a new conceptual framework and vocabulary founded on neuroscience. Churchland believed that much like the same way that science replaces outmoded, ineffective, and limited conceptual framework with ones that can explain and predict more effectively, the same thing needs to be done in psychology and philosophy of the mind. Materialism holds that the self is inseparable from the substance of the brain and the physiology of the body. Contemporary advances in neurophysiology allow scientist to observe the living brain as it works to process information, create ideas, and move through dream states. Churchland argues that a new accurate, objective and scientifically based understanding of our “selves” will contribute substantially toward a more peaceful and humane society. 4.12 Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: The Self is Embodied Subjectivity German thinker Edmund Husserl introduced a very different approach known as phenomenology. Phenomenology refers to the conviction that all knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on the phenomena of experience. The division between the mind and the body is a product of confused thinking and the simple fact is we experience or self in unity in which the mental and physical are seamlessly woven together. This idea of self as a unity fully rejects the dualist ideas of Plato and Descartes. A generation after Husserl, the philosopher Ponty articulated a phenomenologist position declaring, “I live in my body.” By the lived body, he means an entity that can never be objectified or known in in a completely objective sort of way as opposed to the body as object of the dualists. If we honestly and accurately examine our direct and immediate experiences of ourselves, these mind/body problems fall away. The living body is a natural synthesis of mind and biology and any Achieve Page 48