eliminative materialism Flashcards
what is eliminative materialism?
argues that our common-sense understanding of mental states is fundamentally mistaken and should be eliminated in favour of neuroscience
- it claims that mental states do not exist at all in the way we think they do
who created the theory?
paul and patricia churchland
- believe that concepts like belief and pain will be replace by more scientific terms
what is the strength that folk psychology fails?
folk psychology refers to our everyday way of explaining human behaviour using concepts like beliefs, desires and intentions
- eliminative materialists argue that folk psychology is a false theory - similar to how ancient people falsely believed in gods to explain natural events
- eliminative materialists believe that neuroscience will replace mental concepts with scientific explanations
what is the strength of history’s support?
alchemy was replaced by chemistry
geocentrism was replaced by heliocentrism
the theory claims that folk psychology will be replaced by neuroscience as our understanding of the brain improves
what is the strength that neuroscience supports?
advances in neuroscience suggest that mental states correspond to specific neural processes in the brain
- if science can fully explain behaviour in terms of neurons, synpases and brain chemistry then there is no need for folk psychological explanations
what is the self-refutation argument?
if eliminative materialism is true then beliefs do not exist BUT eliminative materialists BELIEVE that eliminative materialism is true
this is a CONTRADICTION and so the theory is self-refuting
what is the intuition problem?
we directly experience mental states like pain, thoughts and emotions and even if neuroscience explains the brain’s mechanisms, it doesn’t mean our experiences don’t exist
- saying pain doesn’t exist seems absurd when we CLEARLY FEEL IT
what is the argument that folk psychology is still useful?
folk psychology is still a useful and predictive system
- using concepts such as belief and desire to understand and predict human behaviour in everyday life helps us to communicate
- science may explain how the brain works, but it does not replace the usefullness of these mental concepts in practical situations
