Introducing Persons: Theories and Arguments in the Philosophy of the Mind

276 Pages·1986·0.69 MB·English

by  Peter Carruthers

INTRODUCING PERSONS

INTRODUCING
PERSONS
THEORIES AND ARGUMENTS
IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
Peter Carruthers

London and New York
First published 1986
by Croom Helm

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

© 1986 Peter Carruthers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 0-203-00573-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-17410-0 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-04512-6 (Print Edition)
To the memory of my father,
who died fighting to remain a person.
And for my mother,
who helped him succeed.

CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction 1
Part One: Myself and Others
1. The Problem of Other Minds 7
i. The Problem 7
ii. Attempted Solutions to the Problem 14
iii. The Uniqueness of Consciousness 21
iv. Certainty and Meaning 26
Questions and Readings 34
Part Two: Immaterial Persons
2. Dualism: Body and Soul 39
i. An Argument for Dualism 39
ii. Hume’n Bundles 46
iii. Against the Bundle Theory 51
iv. Difficulties with Dualism 59
Questions and Readings 66
3. Identity and the Soul 68
i. The Concept of Identity 68
ii. Soul Identity 76
iii. Soul Identification 84
iv. The Argument for Dualism Reconsidered 91
Questions and Readings 97
Part Three: States of Mind
4. Mind and Behaviour 101
i. Philosophical Behaviourism 101
ii. From Behaviourism to Functionalism 109
iii. First-personal Problems 116
iv. Errors in Mind 123
Questions and Readings 130
5. Mind and Brain 131
i. Mind/Brain Identity 131
ii. Preliminary Difficulties 138
iii. Further Difficulties 145
iv. Necessary Identities 151
Questions and Readings 155
6. Privacy and Meaning 157
i. Private Language 157
ii. Against Private Language 163
iii. A Cartesian Counter-attack 171
iv. Meaning and the Mind: Function and Feeling 177
Questions and Readings 184
Part Four: Material Persons
7. After-life for Materialists 189
i. Resurrection 189
ii. Reincarnation 196
iii. Double Difficulties 204
iv. Survival without Identity 211
Questions and Readings 218
8. Boundaries of Persons 220
i. Limits of the Individual 220
ii. Limits of the Class: Humans that are not Persons 227
iii. Limits of the Class: Animal Persons 234
iv. Limits of the Class: Artificial Persons 240
Questions and Readings 248
Retrospect 250
Bibliography of Collected Papers 254
Glossary 255
Index 260
PREFACE

The best way to teach philosophy is to do it, and to be seen to be
doing it. Accordingly this book is neither a survey nor a history of
the subject, but a genuine attempt to think through to the truth on the
matters in hand. It is however an introduction, in that I take nothing
for granted, explain ideas and arguments as clearly and fully as I
can, and omit some of the more technical complications. What I
have tried to do is present the strongest arguments that I am capable
of for and against the various main positions within my chosen subject
area, arguing also for what seems to me to be the truth on each topic.
The topics have been selected, from the much wider range available
within the philosophy of mind, with an eye to those which have the
most immediate appeal to the beginner. Students working through
this book will I hope achieve an overall understanding of the different
theories, as well as learning by example how to start thinking
rigorously and systematically for themselves. I hope it may be useful
as a seminar text for students who already have some experience of
philosophy, or as a text-to-be-lectured-to for beginners.
This book is almost wholly self-contained. Aside from the
occasional reference to Descartes, Locke and Hume, no other
philosophers are mentioned in the text. Students new to philosophy
are distracted by a work which is full of names and references. For
they naturally assume that this is an important part of what they
have to learn. Whereas in truth, knowledge of the ‘who-said-what’
variety has only a minimal place in the study of our subject. What is
important is that they should come to understand the various main
theories in the field (and understanding, here, involves seeing what
arguments can be deployed in support of them); and that they should
begin to think critically on their own behalf, developing objections
and arguments of their own.
I have tried to make my written style as simple and unobtrusive as
possible. As philosophers, we should express our views and present
our arguments clearly and plainly, lest our readers become convinced
for the wrong reasons. For our concern is the truth, not propaganda.
(No doubt many have become Christians as a result of the fine
language of the Authorised Translation of the Bible; and no doubt