1 / 15

Evolving Consciousness: The Very Idea!

Evolving Consciousness: The Very Idea!. James H. Fetzer University of Minnesota, Duluth THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY October 28, 2006. The “Black Box” Model. Stimulus S ==> [Organism O =p=> Response R] Figure 1. The black box. Organism O ==> [Stimulus S =p=> Response R]

annice
Download Presentation

Evolving Consciousness: The Very Idea!

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Evolving Consciousness:The Very Idea! James H. Fetzer University of Minnesota, Duluth THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY October 28, 2006

  2. The “Black Box” Model Stimulus S ==> [Organism O =p=> Response R] Figure 1.The black box. Organism O ==> [Stimulus S =p=> Response R] Figure 2.The black box (reversed). (EXTERNAL) O ==> (INTERNAL) [ ( S =p1=> R1) & (R1 =p2=> R2) & (R2 =p3=> R3) & ...] =pj=> (EXTERNAL) Rj Figure 3.A more refined model.

  3. Human Behavior MOTIVES (m1, m2, ... mn) & BELIEFS (b1, b2, ... bn) & RESPONSES r1, r2, ... rn, ETHICS (e1, e2, ... en) & =p=> including motion and ABILITIES (a1, a2, ... an) & sounds CAPABILITIES (c1, c2, ... cn) Figure 4.Human behavior as a probabilistic effect.

  4. The Nature of Minds Something S Ground Causation z Interpretant x Somebody Something Figure 5.The triadic sign relationship.

  5. Semiotic Systems Sign S Ground Causation z Interpretant x Mind Something Figure 6.A semiotic system.

  6. Semiotic Systems Input i No Grounding Causation c o Computer Output Figure 7.An input-output system.

  7. Communication and Convention Sign S S stands for x1 for z1 S stands for x2 for z2 z1 x1 x2 z2 Does x1 = x2? Figure 8.Communication situations.

  8. Consciousness and Cognition Consciousness (with respect to signs of kind S) = df ability + capability (within a context) Cognition (of a specific sign of Kind S) = df an effect of consciousness + opportunity Figure 9.Consciousness and cognition (informal).

  9. Consciousness and Cognition Figure 10.Basic modes of mentality.

  10. Higher Modes of Mentality Figure 11.Higher modes of mentality.

  11. Conceptions of Consciousness Figure 12.Five modes of consciousness.

  12. Evolution and Consciousness Figure 13.Adaptive roles of modes of consciousness.

  13. Genetic vs. Cultural Evolution Figure 14.Genetic vs. cultural evolution (Bonner).

  14. Genetic vs. Cultural Evolution Figure 15.Genetic vs. cultural evolution (Fetzer).

  15. The Theory of Minds as Semiotic Systems CONJECTURE: Minds are semiotic systems (sign-users). DEFINITION: Mentality = df semiotic ability CRITERION: the capacity to make a mistake • NOTE: Applicable to humans, to other animals, and to machines: • species are predisposed toward types of mentality; • machines have mentality if they are semiotic systems; • a thing has a mind if it is capable of making a mistake; etc. from The Evolution of Intelligence: Are Humans the Only Animals with Minds?, James H. Fetzer (2005)

More Related