BEHAVIOURISM Flashcards
what is behaviourism
mental states are nothing more than behavioural dispositions.
you can give a a complete account of the mind in terms of behaviours and bodily states.
what two types of behaviourism are there
hard, and soft
what is hard behaviourism
all propositions about mental states can be reduced without loss of meaning to propositions about behaviours and bodily states
what is soft behaviourism
propositions about mental states are propositions about behavioural dispositions
how can soft behaviourism overcome the hard behaviourism critique of spartans and zombies
we can hide behaviours/fake them. Hard behaviourism says we can deduce mental states from behaviour. so this wouldn’t work.
soft behaviourism analyses mental states in terms of behavioural dispositions, not just actual behaviour.
what is a disposition
how something will or likely behave in certain circumstances.
for example a wine glass has a disposition to break when dropped. or if someone is in a mental state of pain, they will have the disposition to say ouch.
argument for soft behaviourism- RYLE- THE CONCEPT OF MIND
argues against dualism- aiming at the problem with other minds and the problem of causation
what is category mistake behaviourism claims dualism makes
to think mental states are distinct from their associated behaviours is to make a category mistake. the mental state of pain is nothing more than the various behavioural dispositions associated with pain.
Problems- asymmetry between self and other knowledge.
when i feel pain, i have direct access to this knowledge (there is no way i can be mistaken), however i don’t when someone else does, some people may be acting.
so there is a big difference, but if behaviourism were true then this wouldnt be the case.
what are super spartans and how do they go against behaviourism
suppressed emotions- show no behaviour.
behaviourism says pain is a disposition to behave a certain way. But here we have an example of pain without the associated behavioural dispositions.
response to super spartan
without any outward demonstration, we couldnt form the concept of pain
zombie argument
used for property dualism- against behaviourism.
has no qualia but has behaviour. so it has behavioural dispositions but no mental states. so these are separate.
MULTIPLE REALISABILITY
The same mental state can be realised through multiple behaviours.
and the the same behaviour can be realised as multiple mental states.
In short, it seems impossible for behaviourism to explain mental state as behaviours without assuming various other mental states. But these other mental states need a behavioural explanation too
circularity
Behaviourism must assume other mental states in order to give an analysis of mental states in terms of behavioural dispositions.
And further, If you try to define those other mental states in terms of behavioural dispositions, you will end up back where it started.
