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MIND THEORY: NAGEL VS. DENNETT
Dualism vs. Materialism
The theory of mind is probably one of the most challenging areas of philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience we will ever have to face, because it involves, depending on the approach or view taken, thinking about or quantifying the process of thinking. Neither introspection nor neuroscience has provided definitive answers to what the mind is, although this remains an active area of debate and research.
Dennett's view of mind theory will probably have more in common with the future direction of neuroscience research and therefore be more relevant and testable.
Dualism vs. Materialism
Generally speaking, philosophers can be grouped into dualists and materialists. Dualists believe the mind is an entity separate from our physical nature and even though it is still currently impossible to measure the mind using scientific instruments, this limitation doesn't mean the mind doesn't exist (reviewed by Ramsey, 2007, Section 3). Materialists, or eliminativists, argue that what we experience as thinking or consciousness is nothing more than our nervous system providing a means for us to interpret and react to the world and the existence of a mind need not be invoked. Arguments for and against...
To argue this point Nagel discussed the ability of bats to navigate their environment through echo-location and since we can't echo-locate it would be impossible for us to fully understand the conscious experiences of a bat. In proposing this argument, Nagel makes the assumption that creatures are capable of subjective experiences. Although many scientists and philosophers may agree with this assumption it represents a leap from sensory experiences to the process of mentation without an explanation of how the connection is made. Human minds, according to Nagel's viewpoint, are unique only because our means for interacting with…
References
Allen, Colin. (2010). Animal Consciousness. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/
Clark, Andy. (2002). Minds, brains, and tools. In H. Clapin (Ed.), Philosophy of Mental Representation (pp. 66-90). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ramsey, William. (2007). Eliminative Materialism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/materialism-eliminative/
Descartes Cartesian dualism emerges from Descartes's approach of radical skepticism. Wanting to know what can be determined to be absolutely true, Descartes begins by doubting all sensory perception as fundamentally external and liable to interference. Just as we understand that hallucination exists as a real phenomenon -- whereby we might "see" an object that is not really there -- we may come to understand that all the evidence obtained from eyesight
Biological applications are being used in the study of mental process and behavior in term of mechanisms of body that is the study of psychology. The thinking that psychological processes are biologically related to each other is the base of relationship of psychology biology. Through different research on the study of mental processes now scientists are able to better treat any disease both physically and mentally. Study of relationship of biology
As experiments became more complex, however, especially noting embryonic development, scientists found that the process that occurs in vitro parallels the evolutionary process of nerve system complexity, and then becomes more qualitative in that not every aspect of thought can be explained by a simple combination of neurotransmitters (neuron coded molecules) or electrical events. While it is true that the electrical even between two cells allows for communication, the subtle
For Marx, of course, economics and class conflicts were the base of society, and social change proceeded through revolutions, such as the French, American and English Revolutions against feudalism in the 17th and 18th Centuries. In the future, capitalism would be overthrown by a socialist revolution, starting with the most advanced industrial economies in the West (Greene, p. 200). Comte argued that sociology should be concerned with the "laws
Consequently, physicalism or materialism is seen by some as a form of reductionism of the potential of human mind and consciousness. It is therefore a point-of-view that should be questioned in terms of the modern exploration of the complexity of human consciousness. References A Case for Physicalism about the Human Mind (the Great Debate). Retrieved from http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/andrew_melnyk/physicalism.html Jackson. F. (1986): 'What Mary Didn't Know'. Journal of Philosophy, 83. Knowledge Argument Against Physicalism [Internet Encyclopedia
A reductive explanation of consciousness will explain this wholly on the basis of physical principles that do not themselves make any appeal to consciousness. According to materialism, consciousness is the direct result of brain activity. Nonreductivism admits the existence of consciousness as part of the explanation. Nonmaterialism, on the other hand, views consciousness as an essential but nonphysical part of the human being. In order to emphasize the nonphysical