The Mental Files Theory of Singular Thought

Author(s):  
Michael Murez ◽  
Joulia Smortchkova ◽  
Brent Strickland

The chapter outlines and evaluates the most ambitious version of the mental files theory of singular thought, according to which mental files are a wide-ranging psychological natural kind, including psychologists’ object-files as a representative subspecies, and underlying all and only singular thinking. It argues that such a theory is unsupported by the available psychological data, and that its defenders may have overestimated the similarities between different notions of “file” used in philosophy and cognitive science. Nevertheless, critical examination of the theory from a psychological perspective opens up promising avenues for research, especially concerning the relationship between our perceptual capacity to individuate and track basic individuals and our higher-level capacities for singular thought.

Coinciding with recognition of the need for more clarity about the notion of singular (or de re) thought, there has been a surge of interest in the notion of a mental file as a way to understand what is distinctive about singular thought. But what isn’t always clear is what mental files are meant to be, and why we should believe that thoughts that employ them are singular (as opposed to descriptive). In order to make progress on these questions, this volume brings together original papers by leading scholars on singular thought, mental files, and the relationship between the two, as well as an introduction providing an overview of the central issues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-404
Author(s):  
Nur Khasanah ◽  
Achmad Irwan Hamzani

AbstractThis study discusses the relation between religion and democracy; critical examination of the existence of Islamic parties in Indonesia. This study is a qualitative study based on library (library research). The approach used is descriptive qualitative which aims to illustrate or describe the reality that exists or what is happening or the actual reality of the object under study. Then interpreted in the form of a report. The approach used is the cultural anthropology approach. The results of this study indicate that Muslims interpret the relationship of religion and democracy to occur in three models, namely the negative, neutral and positive models. In the context of Islamic political parties in Indonesia, the basic problem is the inability of parties to package democratic issues, starting from the emergence of religious sentiment, politicization of religion, political pragmatism in PKS parties. Furthermore, the PPP party has problems with party regeneration, leadership dualism, and political attitudes. Whereas the UN party is seen in the absence of a leader figure and political culture.Keywords: Religion, Democracy, Islamic Party AbstrakStudi ini membahas tentang relasi agama dan demokrasi; telaah kritis eksistensi Partai-Partai Islam di Indonesia. Kajian ini merupakan studi kualitatif berbasis kepustakaan (library research). Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif yang bertujuan untuk memberi gambaran atau mendeskripsikan kenyataan yang ada atau apa yang terjadi atau kenyataan sebenarnya pada obyek yang diteliti. Kemudian diinterprestasikan dalam bentuk laporan. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan antropologi budaya. Hasil penelitian ini memperlihatkan bahwa kaum muslim memaknai bahwa relasi agama dan demokrasi terjadi dalam tiga model, yakni model negatif, netral, dan positif. Dalam konteks partai-partai politik Islam di Indonesia, problem mendasar adalah ketidakmampuan partai dalam mengemas isu-isu demokrasi, mulai dari muncul sentimen keagamaan, politisasi agama, pragmatisme politik pada partai PKS. Selanjutnya pada partai PPP terdapat masalah pada kaderisasi partai, dualisme kepemimpinan, dan sikap politik. Sedangkan pada partai PBB terlihat pada ketiadaan figur pemimpin  dan kultur politik.Kata Kunci: Agama, Demokrasi, Partai Islam


During the last few years of his life Prof. Simon Newcomb was keenly interested in the problem of periodicities, and devised a new method for their investigation. This method is explained, and to some extent applied, in a paper entitled "A Search for Fluctuations in the Sun's Thermal Radiation through their Influence on Terrestrial Temperature." The importance of the question justifies a critical examination of the relationship of the older methods to that of Newcomb, and though I do not agree with his contention that his process gives us more than can be obtained from Fourier's analysis, it has the advantage of great simplicity in its numerical work, and should prove useful in a certain, though I am afraid, very limited field. Let f ( t ) represent a function of a variable which we may take to be the time, and let the average value of the function be zero. Newcomb examines the sum of the series f ( t 1 ) f ( t 1 + τ) + f ( t 2 ) f ( t 2 + τ) + f ( t 3 ) f ( t 3 + τ) + ..., where t 1 , t 2 , etc., are definite values of the variable which are taken to lie at equal distances from each other. If the function be periodic so as to repeat itself after an interval τ, the products are all squares and each term is positive. If, on the other hand, the periodic time be 2τ, each product will be negative and the sum itself therefore negative. It is easy to see that if τ be varied continuously the sum of the series passes through maxima and minima, and the maxima will indicated the periodic time, or any of its multiples.


2011 ◽  
Vol 187 ◽  
pp. 522-527
Author(s):  
He Yang

As an integral element of the space environment, the environmental sculpture plays an important role in the decoration of space environment, the expression of urban culture and reflection of the city's character, etc. Environmental sculpture is a visible symbol independent and outside of the sign of nature or architectural language, which has become an important cultural carrier between the communication of environment and people. From the perspective of cognitive science, this paper analyzes the relationship between people, environment and environmental sculpture to explore the psychological characteristics of cognition of environmental sculpture and examines, analyzes and interprets the phenomenon of environmental sculpture from the cognitive psychology perspective, which brings some enlightenment for the design of environment sculpture.


Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8 (106)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Natalia Zaitseva

The paper examines the relationship between logic and cognitive science. We consider various aspects of this relationship, among which we distinguish three of the most importance, in our thought. First, it is the role of cognitive science in the justification of logic. Secondly, the mutual influence of cognitive science and modern trends of non-classical logic, which have a clearly applied character. Third, we discuss the prospects of the so-called experimental logic arising from attempts to apply the methods of cognitive science in logic. As usual, the conclusion summarizes the results of the research and focuses on the issue of the status of pure logic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Robert S.P. Jones

James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man has fascinated readers for more than a century and there are layers of psychological meaning to be found throughout the novel. The novel is the perfect vehicle to discuss the relationship between form language and emotion as Joyce deliberately manipulated the emotional response of the reader through innovations in form and language, departing dramatically from previous literary traditions. This paper attempts to take a fresh look at the novel from a psychological perspective and seeks to examine underlying conditioning processes at work in the narrative – particularly the concept of associative learning. Understanding emotional responses to different stimuli is the bedrock of psychological investigation and 100 years after the date of its publication, Portrait of an Artist presents remarkably fresh insights into the human experience of emotion. Despite its age, Portrait of the Artist contains many contemporary psychological insights.


Pedagogika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Aberšek ◽  
Kosta Dolenc ◽  
Metka Kordigel Aberšek ◽  
Raffaele Pisano

Based on our previous educational researches we discuss whether it is possible to replace a human teacher with a virtual (machine) teacher, refereeing the hidden layers of doing so, as well as considering the technological possibilities currently available explain what this means in a society. For, an adaptation of current cybernetic into cybernetic pedagogy as cognitive modelling within a compounded educational system is proposed.


Author(s):  
Irena Lagator Pejović

This paper addresses the deconstructive questioning of the international economic expression of the LLC/Limited Liabilty Company and its role in global capitalism. Through an analysis of its constitutive notions in the context of post-Fordist production and the relationship to the issue of creativity, my goal is to demonstrate the opposite of the confirmation that such an expression emphasizes in the language and enables in reality. My thesis is to prove that today the multitude is acting within the limitless potential of human, social and cultural creativity. My intent in this paper is to prove that the tone of the meaning of the term LLC/Limited Liability Company is imposed by capitalist society and that may be aimed at subversive action on the capacity of the multitude. In this process, Derridan deconstruction serves to analyze the LLC through the concepts of sociability, responsibility, and limitation. Areas of interest are the strategy of Hannah Arendt’s entry into the essence of bios politicos and the way in which life is organized; Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of the identity of today’s liquid modernity and the concept of identity as such in it; and Paolo Virno’s implementation of the notion of a creative multitude as well as his evidence for the consequences of the paradoxical post-Fordist economy. In methodological terms, a critical examination of the relationship between creativity, capital and society is offered that focuses on understanding the crossings and paradoxes in permanent becoming. Article received: March 28, 2018; Article accepted: April 10, 2018; Published online: September 15, 2018; Preliminary report – Short CommunicationsHow to cite this article: Lagator Pejović, Irena. "Doxa and the Paradox of the Limited Liability Company (Society)." AM Journal of Art and Media Studies 16 (2018): 147−158. doi: 10.25038/am.v0i16.260


1999 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
José Manuel Martín Morillas

In this paper it is argued that, despite the welcome psycho-social emphasis in educational linguistic theories witnessed in recent decades, and with it, a rapprochement of the social sciences to the psychological sciences, the relationship between these fields has not gone far enough. The actual challenge is a move towards the unification of the social, psychological and language sciences (anthropology and sociology; cognitive science; and linguistics). A step in this interdisciplinary direction is offered by the discipline called 'cognitive anthropolinguistics', and its central concept of 'cultural cognition'. The paper discusses the implication of this concept for the field of educational linguistics, followed by a brief illustration of a cognitive-cultural application of that concept, namely the concept of 'ethnic stereotype', as part of a socio-cultural guide for a cross-cultural pedagogical grammar.


Author(s):  
Lila R. Gleitman ◽  
Mark Y. Liberman ◽  
Cynthia A. McLemore ◽  
Barbara H. Partee

This autobiographical article, which began as an interview, reports some reflections by Lila R. Gleitman on the development of her thinking and her research—in concert with a host of esteemed collaborators over the years—on issues of language and mind, focusing on how language is acquired. Gleitman entered the field of linguistics as a student of Zellig Harris and learned first-hand of Noam Chomsky’s early work. She chose the psychological perspective, later helping to found the field of cognitive science. With her husband and long-term collaborator, Henry Gleitman, for more than 50 years, she fostered a continuing research community aimed at answering fundamental questions in the theory of language and its acquisition.


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