Semantic Pragmatism and A Priori Knawledge (or ‘Yes we could all be brains in a vat’)

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Jackman
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
The Self ◽  
Semantic Externalism ◽  
Metaphysical Realism ◽  
The World ◽  
Rational Acceptability ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Brain In A Vat

Hilary Putnam has famously argued that we can know that we are not brains in a vat because the hypothesis that we are is self-refuting. While Putnam's argument has generated interest primarily as a novel response to skepticism, he originally introduced his brain in a vat scenario to help illustrate a point about the ‘mind/world relationship.’ In particular, he intended it to be part of an argument against the coherence of metaphysical realism, and thus to be part of a defense of his conception of truth as idealized rational acceptability. Putnam's discussion has already inspired a substantial body of criticism, but it will be argued here that these criticisms fail to capture the central problem with his argument. Indeed, it will be shown that, rather than simply following from his semantic externalism, Putnam's conclusions about the self-refuting character of the brain in a vat hypothesis are actually out of line with central and plausible aspects of his own account of the relationship between our minds and the world.

The Patient

2018 ◽  
pp. 19-37
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Clinical Point ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

This chapter addresses the issue of a stroke's impact on consciousness and the self, from a clinical point of view. We look at how the mind is seen by three experts—a neuroscientist, a brain surgeon, and a neuro-philosopher—and find that, instead of solving the mystery of the mind, they in fact add to it. Indeed, they all agree on the lingering mystery of consciousness, underneath and beyond the brain, as well as on the surprising rapport the self seems to establish to the world and its environment – in ways that are not constitutive to the brain itself. This suggests we might need to call on psychologists and sociologists next, to help us solve the conundrum of the self.

Is Neuroscience Relevant to Philosophy?

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 323-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Smith Churchland
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

Many questions concerning the nature of the mind have remained intractable since their first systematic discussion by the ancient Greeks. What is the nature of knowledge, and how is it possible to represent the world? What are consciousness and free will? What is the self and how is it that some organisms are more intelligent than others? Since it is now overwhelmingly evident that these are phenomena of the physical brain, it is not surprising that an established empirical and theoretical foundation in this domain has eluded us for so long. For in order to understand what we are and how we work, we must understand the brain and how it works. Yet the brain is exceedingly difficult to study, and research on any significant scale is critically dependent on advanced technology.

Nihilistic Thinking as the Self-Will of the Mind and the Projects of Its Overcoming

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 74-87
Author(s):  
Irina N. Sidorenko
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Spatial Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Radical Transformation

 The author analyzes the conceptions of ontological nihilism in the works of S. Kierkegaard, F. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger, E. Jünger. On the basis of this analysis, violence is defined as a manifestation of nihilism, of the “will to nothingness” and hypertrophy of the self-will of man. The article demonstrates the importance of the problem of nihilism. The nihilistic thinking of modern man is expressed in the attitude toward a radical transformation of the world from the position of his “absolute” righteousness. The paradox of the current situation is that there is the reverse side of this transformative activity, when there is only the appearance of action and the dilution of responsibility. Confidence in the rightness of own views and beliefs increases the risk of the violent imposition of own vision of reality. Historical and philosophical reconstruction of the conceptions of nihilism allowed to reveal the following projects of its comprehension and resolution: (1) the project of “positing of values,” which consists in the transformation of the evaluation, which is understood as another perspective of positing values, leading to the affirmation of being; (2) the project of overcoming nihilism from the space of temporality, carried out through the resoluteness to accept the historicity of own existence; (3) the project of overcoming nihilism as the oblivion of being from the spatial perspective of the “line,” allowing to realize the “glimpse” of being. The author concludes that it is impossible to solve the problem of violence and its various forms of its manifestation without overcoming “ontological nihilism.” Significant role in solving the problem of ontological violence is assigned to philosophy as a critical and responsible form of thinking, which is capable to help a person to bear the burden of the world, to provide meanings and affirm being, as well as to unite people and resist the fundamentalist claims of exclusivity and rightness.

The Dynamics of Society-in-the-Self

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert J. M Hermans
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
The Self ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
The World ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
New Vision ◽  
New Phenomena ◽  
The Relationship

In the field of tension between globalization and localization, a set of new phenomena is emerging showing that society is not simply a social environment of self and identity but works in their deepest regions: self-radicalization, self-government, self-cure, self-nationalization, self-internationalization, and even self-marriage. The consequence is that the self is faced with an unprecedented density of self-parts, called I-positions in this theory. In the field of tension between boundary-crossing developments in the world and the search for an identity in a local niche, a self emerges that is characterized by a great variety of contradicting and heterogeneous I-positions and by large and unexpected jumps between different positions as the result of rapid and unexpected changes in the world. The chapter argues that such developments require a new vision of the relationship between self and society.

scholarly journals Extending the extended consciousness debate: perception, imagination, and the common kind assumption

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Deery
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Experience ◽  
Phenomenal Consciousness ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Mental Event ◽  
The World ◽  
Predictive Approach ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

AbstractFor some, the states and processes involved in the realisation of phenomenal consciousness are not confined to within the organismic boundaries of the experiencing subject. Instead, the sub-personal basis of perceptual experience can, and does, extend beyond the brain and body to implicate environmental elements through one’s interaction with the world. These claims are met by proponents of predictive processing, who propose that perception and imagination should be understood as a product of the same internal mechanisms. On this view, as visually imagining is not considered to be world-involving, it is assumed that world-involvement must not be essential for perception, and thus internalism about the sub-personal basis is true. However, the argument for internalism from the unity of perception and imagination relies for its strength on a questionable conception of the relationship between the two experiential states. I argue that proponents of the predictive approach are guilty of harbouring an implicit commitment to the common kind assumption which does not follow trivially from their framework. That is, the assumption that perception and imagination are of the same fundamental kind of mental event. I will argue that there are plausible alternative ways of conceiving of this relationship without drawing internalist metaphysical conclusions from their psychological theory. Thus, the internalist owes the debate clarification of this relationship and further argumentation to secure their position.

The brain as a mediator of the mind and the world

Cortex ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 904-905
Author(s):  
Zhicheng Lin
Keyword(s):  
The World ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Emotional Intensity of Trauma Memory as Moderator of the Relationship Between Posttraumatic Cognitions and PTSD Symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma. Jenina N. Nalipay ◽  
Imelu G. Mordeno
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Negative Cognitions ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Posttraumatic Cognitions ◽  
Trauma Memory ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

Individuals develop three types of cognitions in the aftermath of a traumatic experience: negative cognitions about the self, negative cognitions about the world, and self-blame (Foa et al., 1999). Although the relationship of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic cognitions has been supported in literature, memory-related responses affecting this relationship need further exploration. It was the intention of the present study to address this gap by examining the moderating role of emotional intensity of trauma memory in the relationship between posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptoms. In a sample of survivors of typhoon Haiyan (N = 632), one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded, it was found that in general, negative cognitions about the self and the world, but not self-blame, predict PTSD symptoms; and emotional intensity of trauma memory generally moderates the relationship between posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD. The findings of the study would be useful in the development and enhancement of interventions to help the survivors of natural disasters in maintaining their mental health and wellbeing.

scholarly journals Intolerance of uncertainty modulates brain-to-brain synchrony during politically polarized perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (20) ◽  
pp. e2022491118
Author(s):  
Jeroen M. van Baar ◽  
David J. Halpern ◽  
Oriel FeldmanHall
Keyword(s):  
Political Polarization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Video Material ◽  
The Brain

Political partisans see the world through an ideologically biased lens. What drives political polarization? Although it has been posited that polarization arises because of an inability to tolerate uncertainty and a need to hold predictable beliefs about the world, evidence for this hypothesis remains elusive. We examined the relationship between uncertainty tolerance and political polarization using a combination of brain-to-brain synchrony and intersubject representational similarity analysis, which measured committed liberals’ and conservatives’ (n = 44) subjective interpretation of naturalistic political video material. Shared ideology between participants increased neural synchrony throughout the brain during a polarizing political debate filled with provocative language but not during a neutrally worded news clip on polarized topics or a nonpolitical documentary. During the political debate, neural synchrony in mentalizing and valuation networks was modulated by one’s aversion to uncertainty: Uncertainty-intolerant individuals experienced greater brain-to-brain synchrony with politically like-minded peers and lower synchrony with political opponents—an effect observed for liberals and conservatives alike. Moreover, the greater the neural synchrony between committed partisans, the more likely that two individuals formed similar, polarized attitudes about the debate. These results suggest that uncertainty attitudes gate the shared neural processing of political narratives, thereby fueling polarized attitude formation about hot-button issues.

scholarly journals Preface. Religion and education

2014 ◽  
pp. 5-7
Author(s):  
Liudmyla O. Fylypovych
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
The World ◽  
Information Research ◽  
External Forces ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Negative Sense

Religion and education are a topic that has emerged relatively recently in the Ukrainian information, research, and educational space. The relationship between religion and education meditated before, but usually in a negative sense. New circumstances also dictate new approaches to the stated topic. Polyphony of thoughts holds in itself and explicit criticism of any possibility of coexistence of religion and education, vulgarly linking religion with obscurantism, which can not bear any enlightenment, blurring the brain of a person. Such pre-historic estimates of religion are less and less popular in society, which in those years has "opened" a religion (as opposed to the present and still existing perception of it as a fantastic reflection in the heads of people of those external forces that prevail over them) as a spiritually rich reality as something that fills the meaning of human existence, defines the vocation of the person asserting it in the world, in society, in their own lives.

scholarly journals Post-Traumatic Growth in Cancer Survivors: Narrative Markers and Functions of The Experience's Transformation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Luisa Martino ◽  
Maria Francesca Freda
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Survivors ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
The Self ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Post Traumatic Growth ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Transformative Function ◽  
The Relationship

The concept that a traumatic experience, such as a cancer, can lead to a positive change and transformation of self, life and relationships was named as post-traumatic growth (PTG). A large amount of research measured PTG in cancer survivors arguing an interpretation of the construct as an outcome. Recently, qualitative research shows different types of narrative of PTG, but the narrative markers and their functions of transformation remain still unclear. Within a mixed-method, we aim to highlight the narrative markers and their transformative functions, underlying the PTG, within 12 cancer survivors’ narratives with medium/high and medium/low level of PTG. A redemptive sequence analysis was carried out. In the narratives with high/medium PTG we find a specific transformative function on-thinking focused transformation founded on the change/expansion of the own internal criteria to interpret the relationship with the world centralizing the self in the present and future; in the narratives with medium/low PTG we find an on-acting focused transformation, founded on the change of the operational procedures aimed to live centered on the present and on its moments.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document