^TagBehaviorism

Ideas escape from brain of pensive african man

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 31, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Arjuna Das, Behaviorism, Dualism, eliminative materialism, Featured, Functionalism, Idealism, Identity theory, Michael Egnor}

Dualism Is Best Option for Understanding the Mind and the Brain

_{Theories that attempt to show that the mind does not really exist clearly don’t work and never did} _{News

July 31, 2021

11

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor did a recent podcast with Arjuna Das at Theology Unleashed, “where Eastern theology meets Western skepticism.” In this section (with transcript), they talk about ways we can understand the relationship between the mind and the brain: The basic options are materialist (several varieties), idealist, panpsychist, and dualist. The most popular textbook type theory is reductive materialism, which Egnor says argues that mental states are identical to brain states. Here is a partial transcript and notes for the thirty to forty-two minute mark: Identity theory Michael Egnor: Identity theory doesn’t mean that mental states come from brain states or that they correlate with brain states but that they are brain states, in the same way that the evening Read More ›

Artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, deep learning modern computer technologies. Futuristic Cyber Technology Innovation. Brain representing artificial intelligence with printed circuit board (PC

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
February 8, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Aristotelian psychology, Behaviorism, Computer functionalism, eliminative materialism, Featured, Functionalism, Identity theory, Mind as computation, Noam Chomsky}

Is the Mind Really Just “What the Brain Does”?

_{Many theories claim so. None of them work. Functionalism, the current survivor, is the best of the lot but deeply flawed} _{Michael Egnor

February 8, 2021

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Over the past century there have been several paradigms or patterns of explanation by which philosophers and neuroscientists have tried to understand the mind. Behaviorism was the view that the input to and output from the nervous system was all that mattered. The ‘mind’ was deemed irrelevant to science. Behaviorism was eclipsed by reality—it was more or less demolished in the 1960’s by Noam Chomsky (1928–), who pointed out that language could not be understood in behaviorist terms. The study of the mind is indispensable to linguistics, neuroscience and philosophy. That this needed to be said is a scandal in itself. Identity theory — the view that mental states are identical to brain states — was the rage for several Read More ›

Creative background, the human brain on a blue background, the hemisphere is responsible for logic, and responsible for creativity. different hemispheres of the brain, 3D illustration, 3D render

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 11, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Behaviorism, brain, Dualism, eliminative materialism, Featured, Functionalism, Identity theory, mind, Roger Scruton, Steven Novella}

Why the Mind Can’t Just Be the Brain

_{Thinking it through carefully, the idea doesn't even make sense} _{Michael Egnor

August 11, 2020

12

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Philosopher Roger Scruton (1944–2020) defined neuroscience thus (I paraphrase): Neuroscience is a huge collection of answers with no memory of the questions. Over the past century, neuroscientists have amassed vast libraries of data. But their interpretation of their data on the mind-brain question shows no meaningful understanding of the genuine questions their research is tasked to answer. These questions are ancient: What is the relationship between the soul (or mind) and the body (or brain)? How is it that matter can think? How is it that third-person stuff gives rise to first-person experience? Answers to such questions from the neuroscience community show little evidence of the profound and subtle nature of the questions. Thus, neuroscientists provide answers to questions they Read More ›

Baby girl in surprise talking on a vintage phone

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 1, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Aristotle, B. F. Skinner, Behaviorism, Featured, Grammar, Language, Noam Chomsky, semantics, Syntax, Wilhelm von Humboldt}

Why Linguist Noam Chomsky Is a Great Scientist of Our Era

_{He singlehandedly rid linguistics of a stultifying (and technically mistaken) behaviorism} _{Michael Egnor

August 1, 2020

9

Philosophy of Mind}

Noam Chomsky (right, in 2017) is, in my view, the best scientist of the past half-century. His work fascinates me, which is not a necessary criterion for being a great scientist—but it helps! I hasten to add that I do not share his politics—I’m of a conservative bent. But his theory of linguistics is brilliant and represents an anthropological, biological, and even metaphysical insight unrivaled in science since relativity and quantum mechanics. A case can be made that Chomsky’s insights are more profound than even those of modern physics, because they plumb the human soul in ways that physics cannot. To understand Chomsky’s achievement, it’s helpful to understand what linguistics was until Chomsky transformed it in the 1950s. Philosophers and Read More ›