Analytical Behaviourism (25)

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  • Created by: Elena.S
  • Created on: 07-05-17 14:03

Analytical Behaviourism (25)

Advantages

  • P: issue of other minds; E: all that understanding of mind requires is talk of testable hypotheses and observable behaviour so we can reasonably assume others have minds
  • P: no issue of causal interaction; E: there is no mind substance so idea of mind interacting with body is no more than a category mistake
  • P: introspection as behaviour; E: Ryle: thinking can be done out loud, whether thinking takes place in mind or in public is philosophically irrelevant so we only know more about ourselves bc we hear ourselves say those things we would never tell (it's just hearing ourselves speak); E: expressing concerns or speaking our mind

Disadvantages

  • P: defining mental states satisfactorily; E: how to define a behaviour/mental state without circularity; E: disposition to buy orange juice, upon seeing some, do I BELIEVE it's orange juice, do I WANT it now or do I have to resist my DESIRE to drink it? It's nearly impossible to define this behaviour without referring to another mental state
  • P: multiple realisability; E: possible to realise same mental state in different ways; E: pain - crying, grunting etc
  • P: Putnam's super-Spartans; E: possible to conceive of world where one has no disposition for pain behaviour and so mental states can't be purely described in terms of behaviour
  • P: knowledge of other's mental states; E: theorectically we should know everyone else's mental states but we don't; E: knowing if someone likes you or not

Evaluation

Analytical behaviourism is weak

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