Eliminative Materialism

1
Eliminative Materialism

• An alternative to functionalism

2
Review of materialism

• Mind is the brain
• Problems
• Its parochial.
• How does can it explain reasoning, language?

3
Functionalism

• Allows non-brains to be minds.
• Sees language as central to thought.
• Explains mental functions in terms of
  computation.
• Sees Artificial Intelligence as providing a way
  to develop and test the theory.

4
Churchland and Churchland

• Present the case for an alternative now called
  Eliminative Materialism
• The mind is the brain. (so like traditional
  materialism)
• But theres no need to map brain functions to
  propositional attitudes (such as beliefs and
  desires)
• Because there are no beliefs and desires!

5
Two Approaches

• Cognitive/Computational Approach
• Functionalism, Artificial Intelligence
• Emphasizes the linguistic nature of our ability
  to represent the world.
• Models such representations on computation.
• The Naturalist Approach
• Eliminative Materialism
• Sees the nervous system as an evolved system
  tuned to its environment.

6
Critique of Functionalism

• Functionalism takes seriously the explanatory
  power of folk psychology
• Dennett The intentional stance predicts and
  explains.
• But folk psychology has its limits. And theories
  generally get replaced by better theories.

7
Methodological Solipsism

• Solipsism the view that I am the only mind.
• Functionalism is not solipsistic.
• But it adopts a methodology that concentrates on
  the individual, not the place of the individual
  among others, or in its natural environment.

8
The Naturalist Alternative

• Look at how the organism (particularly its
  nervous system hooks up to the world.
• The four Fs
• Feeding
• Fighting
• Fleeing
• Reproducing

9
Calibrational Content

• Evolution calibrates the nervous system to
  respond selectively and appropriately to the
  environment.
• Example
• Bees are calibrated to detect oleic acid (Detect
  dead bees in the hive.)
• Carry out motor behaviors as a result. (Extract
  dead bees from the hive.)
• This is not behaviorism, and not functionalism
  the story is biologically based.

10
The methodological upshot

• Look at the continuity of organism-world causal
  relationships.
• Humans will be difficult to understand, due to
  the complexity of our nervous systems and the
  complexity of our representational system.
• Naturalist/neuroscientific approach may lead to
  conceptual change.