Behaviourism (Ryle) Flashcards
Who was the name of the philosopher who wrote The concept of mind
Gilbert Ryle
What is the entire premise of the The concept of mind: Descartes Myth
CLARIFIES a CONCEPT that Descartes made a CATEGORICAL mistake
Why does Ryle refer to Dualism as the official doctrine
1) Descartes meditations first published in 1641
2) The in-material versus material was a problem in Descartes time
3) However, expansion upon Descartes theory was carried out
4) Dualism up until Ryle was the official stance of philosophers
Give some contrasting examples of Physical Things and Mental Things
1) Extension versus thinking
2) Public versus private
3) Space in time versus time only
4) Directly observed versus indirectly observe (some would actually reverse this but rules is talking about the mental of others)
5) External versus internal
What was Ryle’s goal
His main thesis:__________
Not only in detail, but ________
1) dualism is false
2) principal
What was the broad reason Ryle claimed Dualism was false?
Too many mistakes were made,
Especially a big categorical mistake
What is a category mistake?
PLACING a CONCEPT in an INAPPROPRIATE CATEGORY
(usually done undetected)
What was Ryles first criticism about?
Explanatory power
What was the criticism of Explanatory Power according Ryles?
EXPLANANTORY POWER
DUALISM comes from an attempt to AVOID MECHANICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MIND
THEREFORE: the theory of mind produced by the dualists avoid explanation about what the the minds are
RATHER: They attempted to explain what it isn’t (negation)
Who coined the term Ghost in the Machine?
Gilbert Ryle
When was the concept of mind written?
1949
Explain the phrase ghost in the machine?
BECUASE dualists adhere to the mind being invisible
IT makes it impossible to study or ask anything outside the laws of physics
Where does Ryle suggest the dualist thought takes one?
Nowhere, if a theory of mind makes the mind impossible to study then what’s the point. A theory should make things easier to understand. Dualism therefore prevents one from finding an explanation on the mind.
What is Ryles second criticism about?
Its about the categorical mistake made
give an example of a categorical mistake?
if one has a left glove, and a right gloves, so I have a pair of gloves therefore I have three items.
What is the mistake made in the glove example of a categorical mistake
the mistake is treating the pair as the same category as the left and the right
What was Descartes categorical mistake according to Gilbert Ryles?
- takes the mind to belong to the same category as the body
- treats the both the mind and the body as a thing
- problem is the mind is not anything at all, it is not a thing
How does the ghost of the machine apply to the mind and body
when you take Descartes concept of the mind and treat it as a thing in addition to the body you will never find it
Does Ryle claim there is no mind?
No he doesn’t no claim there is no mind rather that there is only body and the mind is a concept describing the bodily behaviours
What concept or category does Gilbert Ryle adhere to?
Logical Behaviourism
What type of concept does Gilbert Ryle introduce?
bundled concepts
What are bundled concepts
A short hand term that is bundled up with a whole bunch of smaller things.
according to Giblert Ryle is mind a bundled concept?
yes
Does Gilbert Ryle claim there is no body?
no he claims the exact opposite that there is just body and not a separation of body and mind as things but rather mind is a short hand term used to explain multiple smaller things
What is the mind a shorthand for according to Ryles?
the mind is a shorthand for behaviours (and dispositions to behaviours
What does Gilbert Ryle mean by behaviours?
ALL OF:
mental CONSCRIPTIONS
mental LANGUAGE
mental TERMS
are just SHORTHAND language for daily complex behaviour
What is the advantage of behaviourism over dualism?
it gives something to be analyzed (behaviours) versus dualists that think the mind is out of reach
True or false to study the mind is to study behaviour (behaviouralists)
true
No mental terms, attitudes, feelings, perception translate into behavioural terms according to the behaviouralist?
false
Mental terms are identical with Behavioural terms? (behaviouralist)
true
Ryles would argue that we should dismiss mental terms because they are able to be replaced with Behavioural Terms
false, Ryles think we SHOULD keep mental terms because they are useful as bundled concept term to explain behaviours
How would Ryles translate the mental term “Jones feels cold”
If Jones is asked Jones would say he is cold
Ryles would translate “Rachel is Nervous” as?
If asked Rachel would say she is nervous
finish the statement: There is nothing more to mental phenomena than__________
the displayed behaviour and disposition to behave (Logical Behaviourism)
Are the relationships between mental and behavioural states a causation and effect type of relationship?
according to Ryles theory, no. To have causation and effect is to have two separate things interacting with each other, the mind and behaviours are the same thing and therefore do no interact with one another but are the same
What is the goal of logical behaviourism?
to translate mental terms into behaviours
What is the #1st criticism offered towards Ryles theory?
That the translation of mental to behaviour is not actually complete. Further explanation is that the person could be asked and just easily not say it for examples Jones feels cold but when asked he says something different
What would criticism #1 repair the translation of “Jones feels cold” to?
If asked, Jones would say he is cold, if only he thinks he wouldn’t offend the person if asked
However what is the major mistake even with Ryle and Criticism #1?
More translating needs to further be done because it can never actually be complete without switching back to mental terms
Provide some examples for the criticism#2 towards Ryles
Examples: we can make a distinction between someone being in pain and someone acting as if they are in pain
or
An elite soldier can have pain behaviour but show no signs of feeling pain due to prior training
Explain the second criticism towards Ryles?
It does not appear to be that mental phenomena are identical to behaviour
What is the third criticism?
