Is Any Version of the Identity Theory of Mind Acceptable?

Is Any Version of the Identity Theory of Mind Acceptable? Identity theory argues that the mind is identical to the brain and that mental events are identical to brain events, ultimately the theory enlightens materialism in that everything is physical and to further precision it enlightens material monism in believing that only material substances and their states exist (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 65). To some extent it exemplifies physicalism that humans are fully material beings that can be explained using ideally complete physics which it is essential to point out do not currently exist. The theory in summary states that when we experience something in our minds it will be identical to an event in the brain, for example pain will be experienced at the same time as the firing of c-fibres in the brain (Gareth Southwell, 2009, http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk). In this essay I will further discuss the different versions of the identity theory such as type-type and token-token. And I will prove that despite strengths such as explaining why changes in the brain through injury or otherwise accompany alterations in the mental functioning no version of the identity theory of mind are ultimately acceptable due to its inability to explain the locations of thoughts or emotions, the subconscious or conscious states, the qualia of experiences or the intentional mental states with further critique by the American philosopher Kripke. There are two types of identity theory and the first one I will discuss is the type-type identity theory. This theory believes that any given mental state will be identical to a brain state (K. T. Maslin, 2009, 68). This theory tries to identify the connection of mental phenomena with physical processes in the brain. This theory utilises the discoveries of science as identical with the possible connections of mental states with brain states, it states that the discovery of water as an element of oxygen and hydrogen as well as the identification of physical phenomena such as lightning with the pattern of electrical discharges it can connect the experience and feeling of pain with the physical process in the brain and central nervous system of the firing of C-fibres. The extension of this theory places impetus on reductionism. This is where it is argued that the meanings of different mental and physical phrases exactly match at their core concepts. This can be explained in terms of wat er and H20, two groups of phenomena that appear numerically contrasting turn out to be one set of existents and not two. Ultimately they state that mental and physical concepts will turn out to be a single type of property described by two different terminologies. They believe the true nature of phenomena can be provided by the base to which it is reduced for example pain can be reduced to the behaviour of neurons in the central nervous system. The second type of identity theory is the token-token identity theory. This believes there are individual differences in people and animals for brain and mental states (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 70). It states that while token mental states are identical to token physical states in different individuals they may be different types of states, for example pain may result in c-fibre stimulation in one individual and z-fibre stimulation in another (Dr Crawford, 2009, 3). I personally think that this theory tries to explain the differences in individuals minds in extension of the pain example I believe this theory tries to explain the different threshold in pain for different individuals, whilst it still may be the same mental thought and brain reactions it takes some people more whilst others less pain to trigger the stimulation of their corresponding fibres whether it be c, x or y. Firstly I will discuss the strengths of these theories in explaining that the mind is ultimately the brain. Firstly it is a simple theory, with fewer assumptions and only requiring to explain the physical it makes itself more preferable and leaves less loopholes open for critique. It also removes the mind body interaction problem, whereas before there was a requirement to explain the mental to physical causation the theory states that the mental is the physical so it only requires the physical to physical causation to be rationalised and not the non-physical with the physical. Another strength is provided by scientific discovery in the use of PET or MRI scans that show that specific areas of the brain light up during specific mental functions, some of these connections were identified by Borca and Wernicke over a hundred years before the creation of these state-of-the-art scanning techniques, this displays the connection between mental and brain states (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 70). Howev er probably the most powerful of all strengths to the identity theories is the ability to explain why changes in the brain due to injury, disease, illness or otherwise results in the alteration of mental functioning. The same happens along the evolutionary scale where increases in brain sizes resulted in the increase of intellectual capacity. Because the mind is the brain when the brain is modified the mind is modified (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 66). There were some earlier objections to this theory as well where critiques stated that because mental states are different to brain states analytically they must be different but theorists quickly dismissed this stating that the non-synonymy of expressions flanking an identity sign does not automatically rule out the truth of the identity claim in other words just because the expressions or terms are different doesnt meant they cannot possibly have the same identity. To take this further the theorists state that it all depends on what you are referring to, underneath the different vocabulary the facts relate to a single reality. The example of the morning and evening stars supports this idea that while the vocabulary and specifically adjectives used to describe the star differ they ultimately refer to the same thing the planet Venus. This can also be applied to the lack of knowledge as dismissible critique using Smarts concept stating that you may know about one thing but nothing abou t another doesnt mean they cannot possibly be the same, for example you may know about water but not recognise the compound of H20 but this doesnt mean they are not the one and single entity (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 74). The strengths identified in the collective identity theories show some serious connections identified and supporting evidence presented in proving the mind is identical with the brain. However I believe there are some serious and unsurpassable flaws in the arguments of the identity theorists that result in its ultimate demise. Firstly, the issue of the mental and the spatial arises (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 74). Whilst it is easy through the use of scanning, the location of brain processes can be easily identified during various tasks it is almost impossible to identify the location of a thought or emotion, in other words mental states are different to brain processes.. Secondly, there is a weakness in the connection between mental states and brain processes on the subconscious level (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 76), to extend this we mean that things like the natural functioning of the nervous system as well as any other system in your body such as digestion or breathing, these all have brain st ates that tell the body what to do however they do not have any connectable mental state because we do not think about them in any way. This shows that some things only have physical properties and hence not everything has a mental and a brain state fundamentally disagreeing with the identity theory. Thirdly is the issue of qualia which means the quality of a conscious experience (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 79). Whilst we may know what part of the brain there is activity in during a particular mental state there is no way we can access the qualia of that experience, for example if we had a pain we can identify this by the firing of c-fibres in our brain state but there is no way we could identify where that pain is, this means that while we experience thoughts and sensations they must exist in other forms than just physical properties of brain states and processes. One day science may be able to identify the qualia of an experience but at the moment we can only identify the mechanical proc ess and cannot explain mentality or consciousness. Another critique of the identity theories emphasises the importance of dreams, beliefs, desires and many more intentional states that do not exist, they possess a representational content and the theorists believe that brain states are fully mechanical processes in brain states that cannot posses any representational content, this requires the drawing of the conclusion that brain states cannot be identical with intentional mental states (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 80). The final main critique of all identity theories is due to Saul Kripke who used Descartes sixth mediation as inspiration for his argument in stating that because we can genuinely imagine mental states without brain states then they are not identical at all, what something may look like is not essential to its being but its inner constitution is for example something may be a clear liquid in appearance but it may have as much chance in being vodka as it is water the only way to identify it is to reduce it to its inner constitution H20 (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 90 and J. J. C. Smart, 2000, http://plato.standford.edu/entries/mind-identity). The mere possibility of occurrence of mental states without the connecting brain states means they cannot be identical. Ultimately there is a lot of physical to mental approaches and connection that cannot be disproved in the same way they cannot be approved and this draws the conclusion that you cannot discover the truth about reality on the basis of what one does and does not know (K. T. Maslin, 2007, 67). In conclusion despite all the strengths of the identity theories such as the discoveries of science with PET and MRI scans and the explanation of changes in the brain resulting in changes in mental functioning ultimately the weakness in locating or explaining thoughts, emotions, dreams, desires, the subconscious or any qualia of experience, representational or otherwise, mean its mechanical approach ceases to advance and that is why I believe the mind is not the brain. Bibliography Crawford, Dr Sean. 2009. Lecture Notes Week 3: Mind Brain Identity Theories, University of Manchester: Blackboard. Maslin, Keith T. 2007. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind, Second Edition, Malden, MA: Polity Press. Gareth Southwell, 2009, Identity Theory, http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pom/pom_indeitity_introduction.htm

Dantes Inferno in Comparison to Christianity and The Media Essay

Dantes Inferno in Comparison to Christianity and The Media Dante's Inferno is a strange journey through hell, which at times seems familiar but then sometimes seems unexpected. As an American and a Christian it is possible to think that my opinion on this could be crafted from my religion and our society, particularly its media. In my mind I see hell as this place of immense torment bestowed on sinners. My faith has taught me that those who sin go to hell to be punished. Dante's adventure clearly shows that the souls of hell are punished, as I thought. Punishments range from living in filth to painful tortures. What my religion or any movies or television shows I've seen mentioned is the idea of a hierarchy. The idea of hell being made up of circles that descend based on sin. While this idea makes sense, I have never been exposed to that thought, so it a little surprising, but also interesting. My view of hell was this burning hole where all the souls of sinners kind of dwell together. I basically felt that a sin is a sin, this is probably because it was instil...

Sketches by Boz – Charles Dickens

Sketches by Boz â€Å"The Streets – Morning† The Victorian London streets is a familiar setting of Dicken's works with â€Å"Oliver Twist† and â€Å"A Christmas Carol† being some his most memorable works. In this passage Dickens offers the reader an alternative London, one without the energetic crowds but instead a much more disquieting place where the streets are dull and lifeless. We are met with a silent neighbourhood before the sun has risen and through the use of characters, setting and comparisons the reader receives a rich picture of the sunless streets.The passage begins with the introduction of the Victorian London scene on a summer morning. The reader is taken by surprise by the opening sentence where â€Å"The streets of London on a summer's morning† are described to be â€Å"most striking†. Dickens' interesting choice of words places the pre-dawn London scene in the summer, a time of warmth and sun, however we are offered a ninete enth century London that is typically portrayed with a bleak, grey backdrop.Few people roam this neighbourhood apart from those â€Å"whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of business, cause them to be well acquainted with the scene. † This leads to the belief that each summer's morning starts off like this, colourless and melancholy; the people who happen to be awake at this dreary hour are the rogues who remain. Each just as depressed as the other, and both's search for something more than the blind acceptance of a morose existence the cause of their endurance of this sad atmosphere.It is quiet with â€Å"an air of cold solitary, desolation about the noiseless streets† and the buildings are â€Å"quiet† and â€Å"closely-shut†. It is empty and through the buildings it is shown how lifeless the location is with everything closed off from the outside world, preventing any chance of exposure to the dismal air. Throug hout the day the roads are â€Å"swarming with life and bustle† the comparison of their appearance early in the morning is â€Å"very impressive†.The impression that they leave is one of sadness, something that one who has observed the area at each time will remember due to the vast differences. Dickens shows that this time of day is for the most unruly of people with the impoverished clearing out of the neighbourhood and â€Å"the more sober and orderly part of the population† not yet awakened. Emphasis is put on how miserable the roads are at predawn to the point they are practically uninhabitable, except by those with nowhere else to go.Dickens draws attention to the places where there would typically be masses of people; â€Å"The coach-stands in the larger thoroughfares are deserted; the night-houses are closed; and the chosen promenades of profligate misery are empty. † This creates an image of ghostlike platforms and buildings, usually brimming wit h life and movement during the day, now empty with even the degenerates tucked away. Despite the forbidding, dead mood that permeates throughout the area, the weather is still warm and humid; â€Å"a partially opened bedroom-window here and there, bespeaks the heat of the weather†.Through the hot weather, the atmosphere becomes tense and heavy, and with this tension there is â€Å"sickness† and the â€Å"uneasy† which contributes a feeling of claustrophobia to the passage, making the reader feel the discomfort of the scene. The Victorian London presented to the reader by Dickens is a grim and deserted place where few dare to walk the streets. The rich description of the scene places great emphasis on the lack on habitation and the grey city, and the depression within it before the sun rises.Dickens' use of language in this piece is memorable for his emphasis on several words and phrases, his literary techniques convey the dreariness of the passage and the street scene. The oxymoron of the words â€Å"unfortunate† and â€Å"pleasure† indicates the futility of trying to find happiness on a predawn London street through with the pursuit of pleasure still unpromising. Tautology places extra stress on words with the same meaning such as â€Å"cold, solitary, desolation† conveying to the reader the lonely frigidity of this area of London before sunrise.The awkward juxtaposition at the end of the first paragraph signifies the unease of one in the streets; â€Å"and over the quiet, closely-shut buildings, which throughout the day are swarming with life and bustle, that is very impressive†. With the unusual order of words the reader feels the discomfort that is present in the neighbourhood at this unpleasant time. A play on words with the drunken man who â€Å"staggers heavily along† with â€Å"the burden of the drinking song. † This can translate to the heavy burden of being drunk and having to find one's way home in such state. Dickens' clever phraseology is highly ffective, managing to send the message to the reader with out being too overt, allowing for the text to flow. Alliteration is ever present in the narrative with â€Å"the drunken, the dissipated and the wretched have disappeared† serving as a notable example. The harsh â€Å"D† sounds gives way to the austerity of the streets and slows down the reading of the sentence. Through the placement of â€Å"wretched† in between â€Å"drunken†, â€Å"dissipated† and â€Å"disappeared† focus falls on wretched, thus becoming the strongest word in the sentence to describe the usual patrons within this neighbourhood.Sibilance in the sentence â€Å"the stillness of death is over the streets† evokes the sensation of the silence in the London scene, with the central word â€Å"death† giving it an air of eeriness. The overall colour of the passage is sunless. It begins at predawn bef ore the sun has risen, creating imagery of darkness and changes very little as it progresses eventually leading to the â€Å"grey, sombre light of daybreak† and death is gives it's shade to the streets with â€Å"it's very hue† imparted to them.The colourlessness of the extract links back to the mood of the time, and it's solemn tone with the typical image of nineteenth century London easily visualised. Dickens' style and techniques build up the depression and add discomfort through repetition and the use of sounds and sentence structures, these subtle additions manage to express the solitude on this particular London summer's morning. Recurring themes of loneliness, poverty and vapidity carry the tone of this piece, through these Dickens' communicates the melancholy and dejection faced an hour before sunrise.The loneliness of the streets is continuously referred to with mention of it's situation during the day where it is â€Å"thronged at other times by a busy, eage r, crowd†. By contrasting alternative times Dickens shows the differences between dawn and the day, this relates back to the torpor felt before the sun has risen. When introducing the drunk and the homeless man, they are referred to as â€Å"the last†. The finality of the statement shows that these men are the final remnants of life on the street and when they retire to their hollows then there shall be nothing left but the cold misery.Destitution is conveyed through the â€Å"drunken man† and the â€Å"houseless vagrant†; one who's sorrows has made him look for pleasure in â€Å"the drinking song† and the other whom â€Å"penury and police have left in the streets†. The consonance in â€Å"penury and police† uses the sharp â€Å"P† to place significance on the two things that the beggar would fear the most. There is a pang of sympathy felt for him having to coil â€Å"up his chilly limbs in some paved corner, to dream of food and warmth† and one pities him even more to be left in the dreadful neighbourhood only finding peace when the sun is about to rise.However it further adds to the scene as he has become a part of it. Pre-dawn's remaining occupants are compared with the â€Å"more sober and orderly part of the population† confirming that they are on the lower end of the population, unfit to be seen by the light of day. A lack of life is evident in the location that Dickens illustrates. The â€Å"occasional policeman† is the last man standing, yet he is â€Å"listlessly gazing on the deserted prospect before him† unable to muster up energy to do his duty as he has been so swamped by depression, with no expectations for the rest of the day. A rakish-looking cat runs stealthily across the road†, changing the setting adding a brief flash of excitement. The cat is lively and cunning, he has retained his sense even in this dismal place. When compared with the lethargic polic e man and the uncoordinated drunk his wile is impressive and full of life amongst the somber scene. â€Å"The houses of habitation† present â€Å"no signs of life† another contradiction with even the place where people are living are inanimate.All is silent on this sad poverty stricken street and Dickens makes use of these features to bring out the crippling depression. â€Å"The Streets – Morning† by Charles Dickens presents us with a bleak London scene before dawn overwhelmed with wretchedness and misery. The cold tone and bleak setting described provides the reader with the image of an unhappy place void of any hope for it's inhabitants. Through comparisons and contrast of the lively crowd of the day and the grave souls before the sunrise the reader feels the melancholy of the Victorian street. Ilyana Bell

The Role of the Mass Media in Ghana’s Democracy - 2088 Words

There is a linkage between the mass media and democracy. The press in the Gold Coast played a significant role in the struggle for the country’s independence from colonialism. Ghana was birth after independence and it has experienced a history of democracy and a mixture of coup d’à ©tats. This reduced the beauty of the once vibrant democratic state to a state where the rights of many Ghanaians were imprisoned, beaten, killed by soldiers. Journalist like Kweku Barku, Kwesi Pratt and others were beaten extensively and some were killed as a result of providing the citizens with information on how the military were corrupt. These inhuman treatments brought a state of fear and relegated the media to a background of silence and created no freedom†¦show more content†¦This has concluded in the ability of the citizenry to make very informed political choices. Furthermore, it has resulted in the people getting actively involved in the democratic process. Public-affairs programs on radio and television provide the depth, context and critical analysis that news programs and commercials. Still, the media in new democracies have contributed to public education on current happening. The media’s track record so far in Ghana’s democracy, however, is uneven. Because of the need to cater to the market or to kowtow to the state, the media often shirk their civic responsibility and contribute to civic illiteracy instead of public enlightenment. The media would want to get the message of democracy across to all people from all walks of life and therefore finds it necessary to communicate not only in the English language, but also in the vernacular. The FM radio are used with its localized signal is an instrument for promoting grassroots democracy which is the rule of law and for any civil society to implement the rule of law the media. â€Å"The choices we would have made could only be described as uninformed choices†. According to Grabe r, â€Å"In many instances the media [impacts] the political scene by creating a climate for political action, this makes them major contributors to nation building, the process whereby news stories influence how peopleShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesprevious history combined. During the same time span, however, state tyranny and brutal oppression reached once unimaginable levels—in large part due to the refinement or introduction of new technologies of repression and surveillance and modes of mass organization and control. Breakthroughs in the sciences that greatly enhanced our understandings of the natural world and made for major advances in medicine and health care were very often offset by the degradation of the global environment andRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesexists. 8. There are numerous sects and groupings of Rastafarians, each holding to its own belief system and structure. 9. Rastafarianism is a deeply patriarchal religion that remains completely behoven to the Bible. 10. For the Rasta, the land mass of Africa, one of the poorest continents on earth, is the promised land. 11. Finally, Rastas seem to harbor a great deal of anger against white people, and yet the religion is accepted and popular among some white people. Most non-Rastafarians tend