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The Mind/Brain Identity Theory

The Mind/Brain Identity Theory. By: Aman , Cherisse a nd Gummy. What is the mind/brain i dentity theory?. Definition: The theory that mental states are really physical brain states It is a contemporary materialist view Materialists believe that reality is ultimately composed of matter

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The Mind/Brain Identity Theory

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  1. The Mind/Brain Identity Theory By: Aman, Cherisse and Gummy

  2. What is the mind/brain identity theory? • Definition: The theory that mental states are really physical brain states • It is a contemporary materialist view • Materialists believe that reality is ultimately composed of matter • The main idea behind the theory is that feelings, desires, thoughts etc. are not intangible but they are physical manifestations of the brain • Materialists believe that science will soon discover that mental states and brain states are the same thing like water and H2O

  3. Criticisms • It is said that trying to identify conscious experiences with brain states will lead to problems • Brain states are publicly observable but conscious experiences are not • A brain surgeon can see different brain states but nobody can literally see a conscious experience • Thinking has no colour, location or shape • This could lead one to believe that brain states and a mental state/consciousness are different things with different qualities • Isn’t the essence of consciousness immaterial?

  4. Supporting Philosophers • J.J.C. Smart supports the mind/brain identity theory • He supports the idea of animal evolution and says that a nonphysical property could not just come from a chemical process (evolution) • He believes that science will discover that brain and mental states are identical • He also says that the relation between brain and mental states are contingent not necessary otherwise it would take the reduce the meaning of the words.

  5. Criticizing Philosophers • Norman Malcolm is against the theory • He believes that if mental and brain states are the same then they would have all of the same properties and this is not the case • It is not necessary to assign spatial locations to mental states like thinking but brain states have a location • Thoughts require background circumstances like practice, habits, assumptions etc. but brain states do not • Also, there is no law of physics necessary or applicable for a thought

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  7. The End

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