Re: The Identity Theory of Mind

From: Lester Zick (lesterDELzick_at_worldnet.att.net)
Date: 09/25/04 

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 15:15:33 GMT

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 15:09:39 -0500, Paul Bramscher
<brams006_nospam@tc.umn.edu> in comp.ai.philosophy wrote:

>Lester Zick wrote:
>> On 23 Sep 2004 15:17:25 -0700, zzbunker@netscape.net (ZZBunker) in
>> comp.ai.philosophy wrote:

[. . .]

>>>>How does one engineer the right without deconstructing the wrong? Why
>>>>do you think theories of the mind are so inbred and keep coming up
>>>>with the same tired nonsense?
>>>
>>> It's most likely that Philosophers prefer science-fiction
>>> to science, and scientists prefer treatises
>>> on Lepto-Quark positivism to thinking, Politicians
>>> prefer photo-ops with Bill Gates to engineering,
>>> and Literaturists prefer 4000 year-old decaying
>>> religous slums to minds.
>>
>>
>> There's some truth to this, ZZ. But I'm more inclined to think that
>> academics, politicians, etc. prefer these kinds of esoteric solutions
>> because the public prefers them whereas the public is bored silly with
>> conventional philosophical wisdom because philosophers and politicians
>> are really just talking heads blowing smoke, either explaining the
>> obvious ad nauseum or indulging in turgid nonsense.
>
>My vision for philosophers is that of ueber-scientists. Philosophers
>could position themselves at the forefront of scientific research,
>rejecting Platonism, dualism, abstract and unsolvable paradoxes, etc.
>They could look at current research and develop hypotheses in ways that
>scientists themselves are extremely hesistant to do. Sometimes hitting,
>sometimes missing. For example, the evidence is a little sketchy,
>funding isn't yet available, a scientist is worried about his
>reputation, it involves too much extrapolation, or is too
>interdisciplinary for a specialist to synthesize, etc. Philosopher as
>visionary.
>
>Also, since science has embraced logic -- but completely rejected ethics
>-- in the Scientific Method, positivism, empiricism,
>inductive/deductive, etc. there is still that much-needed philosophical
>role.
>
>Philosophers could place themselves ahead of, rather than behind or
>outside of scientific advancement.

Philosophers are turkeys who couldn't make the cut in science. Witness
the penny ante behaviorists who spout philosophy because they're tired
of not getting any respect for training animals and anthropomorphizing
results.

Your idea of philosophers as scientific visionaries is a pipe dream.
At best they're nothing more than historians of bad ideas. At worst
they're deliberate academic malefactors. Witness, once again, the
philosophy and behavior of behaviorists.

Regards - Lester

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