Mind: a Brief Introduction.In Rene Descartes' venerable philosophy of mental-physical dualism dualism, any philosophical system that seeks to explain all phenomena in terms of two distinct and irreducible principles. It is opposed to monism and pluralism. In Plato's philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter. , the mind is the dwelling place of the soul and the laws of physics apply only to the realm outside the mind. Materialism is another form of dualism, though it holds that the working of the mind can be completely explained by physical processes. From these ideas branch philosophies such as functionalism functionalism, in art and architecture functionalism, in art and architecture, an aesthetic doctrine developed in the early 20th cent. out of Louis Henry Sullivan's aphorism that form ever follows function. and cognitivism cognitivism In metaethics, the thesis that the function of moral sentences (e.g., sentences in which moral terms such as “right,” “wrong,” and “ought” are used) is to describe a domain of moral facts existing independently of our . They're all patently false, argues Searle. Any philosophy based on dualism fails to explain certain aspects of both the mental and physical realms, he asserts. Instead, the author offers "biological naturalism," contending that even though the mind can't be reduced to neurons, consciousness can be explained by the physical behavior of those brain cells. In Mind, Searle surveys the dominant ideas addressing "the philosophy of mind," all the while outlining dozens of shortcomings. OUP OUP (in Northern Ireland) Official Unionist Party , 2004. 325 p., hardcover, $26.00. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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