Philosophy of Mind A-Z

221 Pages·2006·0.865 MB·English

by  Rakova, Marina

Epistemology A–Z
Martijn Blaauw and Duncan Pritchard
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PHILOSOPHY A–Z SERIES nr
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GENERAL EDITOR: OLIVER LEAMAN aij
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These thorough,authoritative yet concise alphabetical guides introduce the PB
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Features aw
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•Dedicated coverage of particular topics within philosophy d&
•Coverage of key terms and major figures
•Cross-references to related terms. Marina Rakova
Epistemology A–Zintroduces undergraduate and post-graduate students in
philosophy (and epistemology in particular) to the main problems and positions
in epistemology.It shows where these problems and positions connect and where
theypart,therebyproviding a valuable resource both for following connections
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between ideas and for appreciating the place of key figures and concepts in the
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subject.
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The book includes entries on some of the most important historical and t
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contemporary contributors to the field.And all the entries are cross-referenced
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so that each item is placed within the context of the wider debate,resulting in a
multi-layered treatment of all of the main epistemological positions and figures. o
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Martijn Blaauwis Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the
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University of Aarhus,Denmark.He has published various papers in international
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journals,and is the guest-editor of a special issue of Grazer Philosophische Studien
on contextualism. A
–
Duncan Pritchardis Reader in Philosophyat the University of Stirling,Scotland. Z
His publications include Epistemic Luck (Oxford University Press,2005),Moral and
Epistemic Virtues(co-edited with M.S.Brady,Blackwell 2003),and Williamson on
Knowledge(co-edited with P.Greenough,Oxford University Press,forthcoming).
Cover design:River Design,Edinburgh
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Edinburgh University Press barcode d
22 George Square,Edinburgh EH8 9LF in
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www.eup.ed.ac.uk u
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ISBN 0 7486 2094 X g
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PHILOSOPHY OF MIND A–Z
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VolumesavailableinthePhilosophyA–ZSeries
ChristianPhilosophyA–Z,DanielJ.Hilland
RandalD.Rauser
EpistemologyA–Z,MartijnBlaauwandDuncanPritchard
EthicsA–Z,JonathanA.Jacobs
IndianPhilosophyA–Z,ChristopherBartley
JewishPhilosophyA–Z,AaronW.Hughes
PhilosophyofReligionA–Z,PatrickQuinn
Forthcomingvolumes
AestheticsA–Z,FranGuter
ChinesePhilosophyA–Z,BoMou
FeministPhilosophyA–Z,NancyMcHugh
IslamicPhilosophyA–Z,PeterGroff
PhilosophicalLogicA–Z,J.C.Beall
PhilosophyofLanguageA–Z,AlessandraTanesini
PhilosophyofScienceA–Z,StathisPsillos
PoliticalPhilosophyA–Z,JonPike
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Philosophy of Mind A–Z
Marina Rakova
Edinburgh University Press
iii
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In memory of Galina Alexeevna Makashova,
teacher and friend
(cid:2)C MarinaRakova,2006
EdinburghUniversityPressLtd
22GeorgeSquare,Edinburgh
Typesetin10.5/13Sabon
byTechBooks,India,andprintedand
boundinGreatBritainby
ACIPrecordforthisbookis
availablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN-100748622152(hardback)
ISBN-139780748622153(hardback)
ISBN-100748620958(paperback)
ISBN-139780748620951(paperback)
TherightofMarinaRakova
tobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedinaccordancewith
theCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
iv
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Contents
SeriesEditor’sPreface vi
Introduction viii
Acknowledgements xi
PhilosophyofMindA–Z 1
Bibliography 195
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Series Editor’s Preface
The philosophy of mind is one of those areas of philosophy
that has a close connection with science. The precise nature
of that connection is unclear, though, and we tend to think
that abstract issues in philosophy are independent of scien-
tificdevelopmentsanddiscoveries.Yettheprogressthattakes
place in the understanding of the nature of the mind on a
scientificlevelclearlyhasanimpactonthephilosophicaldis-
cussion,notinthesenseofcomingdownononeratherthanon
anothersideofanargument,butbecausesciencecontinuesto
frametheargumentsindifferentways.Thefamiliarproblems
such as how the body and the mind are connected, and what
is meant by consciousness, for example, are often now artic-
ulated in terms of contemporary scientific understandings of
themindandaction.Theverymodernissueofhowfarwecan
talkofmachinesthinkingisagoodexampleofhowthenature
ofthemindandwhatitmeanstobeathinkingthingresonates
through the centuries to become particularly acute in an age
thatisfamiliarwithartificialintelligence.Almostallthemajor
philosophershadsomething,usuallyagreatdeal,tosayonthe
philosophyofmind,andtheirpositionshavebeenbrieflybut
accurately outlined in this book. Philosophy of mind has to-
daybecomeoneofthemostdifficultareasofphilosophywith
atechnicalvocabularyofitsown,perhapsduetoitslinkswith
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SERIESEDITOR’SPREFACE vii
the science of the mind, and Marina Rakova has done us all
aserviceinprovidingaclearandcomprehensiveguidetothe
terminology.
OliverLeaman
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Introduction
Inoneformoranother,philosophyofmindhasalwaysbeena
majorareaofphilosophicalinquiry,althoughitisonlyinthe
lastcentury,whentheso-calledmind–bodyproblembeganto
be tackled head on, that it achieved the spectacular promi-
nence it continues to enjoy today. This special placement of
philosophy of mind in our intellectual endeavours is not sur-
prising: there invariably comes a point when understanding
the nature of the outer reality requires turning an inquiring
eyetothenatureofthemind.Onecouldarguethatthistrend
marks all the major periods in the history of philosophy, but
it will be sufficient to note how much it has resurfaced in re-
cent years. Other disciplines within philosophy, such as epis-
temology,metaphysicsorethics,arebecomingmoreandmore
closely concerned with mental properties, and scientific pub-
licationsnolongershuntheproblemofconsciousnessorthat
oftheevolutionofmentalityasofmerelyspeculativeinterest.
This makes it all the more difficult to outline the exact
province of the philosophy of mind and select only those en-
triesforinclusioninadictionarythatproperlybelongtoit.My
approachwastoreflectinasmuchdetailaspossiblethemain
issuesoccupyingtodaythecommunityofmindandcognition
researchersandprovidethehistoricalbackgroundessentialfor
understandingthem(liketheunwaninginfluenceofDescartes
on modern thought or the present relevance of the medieval
problem of universals). However, I also judged it necessary
to go beyond what may be seen as properly philosophical
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INTRODUCTION ix
problemareasandincludeinthisdictionarysomecrucialem-
piricaltermsandissuesofwhichanyoneinterestedinthephi-
losophy of mind should be aware (such as the landmarks of
visionresearch,scientificexplanationsofconsciousnessordis-
cussionssurroundingtheneurondoctrine).
Overall, what I wanted to produce was the kind of dic-
tionary that I would myself have enjoyed having at my side
whenfirstmakinginroadsintothephilosophyofmind.Thus
I have included here some high-currency phrases which one
invariably comes across in the literature but which are often
leftunexplainedtothepuzzlementofreadersnewtothearea
(forexample,‘Cartesiantheatre’or‘exaptation’).However,I
thoughtitwouldbewrongtomerelyprovidetheirdefinitions
withoutplacingthemintothebroadcontextswheretheymake
theirappearance,whichiswhyentriesforsuchtermsreferthe
readerfortheirexplanationtootherarticles(fortheexamples
giventheseare,respectively,‘self,the’and‘evolution’).
I also placed special emphasis on explaining the ambiguity
present in some important and frequent terms (for example,
‘representationalism’, ‘property dualism’ or even ‘functional-
ism’). There is an opinion that such ambiguity is endemic to
philosophy.Bethatasitmay,itiscertainlybafflingtosomeone
whoisnewtothephilosophyofmind.Allsuchconsiderations
addeduptoformthemainprinciplebehindthechoiceofen-
tries for this dictionary: to help the student or any interested
laypersontogetaquickgraspofsomeunfamiliarterritoryand
become ‘unbaffled’. Finally, as regards the structuring of the
entriesthemselves,Imadeaspecialpointofnotonlyprovid-
ingtheirprecisedefinitionsandansweringthequestion‘what
itis’butofalsoansweringthequestion‘whyitmatters’,which
is one of the first questions an inquisitive person asks when
confrontedwithanewproblemarea.
Irealiseonlytoowellthatsomereadersareboundtoques-
tion my choice of entries, either doubting the appropriate-
ness of some of them in a philosophy of mind dictionary or