How Old Is The Mind? (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about the concept of the mind, and how it's changed since the time of the early Greeks. He notes that Descartes was the first to say intellect, soul and mind are one and the same thing.
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam expands on his views about the mind, noting that Freud and most others in the psychology arena disputed the notion that the functioning of the mind is entirely conscious. Professor Putnam adds that with very few exceptions,...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam continues his discussion of whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 3)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam continues his discussion of whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets. Professor Putn...
Computers, Consciousness and the Brain
Philosopher Daniel Dennett compares computers, which perform billions of operations sequentially, with the human brain, which Dennett calls a staggeringly complex structure capable of performing enormous numbers of operations simultaneously. As part...
Behaviorism, Identity Theory and Functionalism
Philosopher John Searle explores various perspectives on the mind which he believes are all flawed, including behaviorism and identity theory, then discusses functionalism, which he says is essentially a combination of the other two. According to fu...
Artificial Intelligence and the Mind
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about artificial intelligence, stating that the only things it has taught us about cognition is pattern recognition. He contends that it has taught us nothing about induction, natural language use or reasoning.
Dualist or Pluralist?
Philosopher Hilary Putnam calls himself a pluralist rather than a dualist, because he doesn't think there are just two kinds of properties in the world. He goes on to talk about the trend towards reductionist thinking, arguing that it is a task of p...
The Rediscovery of the Mind
Philosopher John Searle says that many philosophers are mistaken in the way they view the mind and the body, noting that they rely on old vocabulary and fail to consider how the mind actually works in real life.