Hilary Putnam - "Brains is a Vat"

Question 1

Ant tracing Churchill on the sand - why is it not representation?

Answer 1

It is not a representation of Churchill because the ant had NO intentions of making it as such.

Question 2

Representation

Answer 2

A portrayal of something made with intention (some resemblance)

Question 3

Reference

Answer 3

1. Images, words
2. When we have a mental image, or when we draw or say something, it has referential basis in something we have experienced.

Question 4

Intentionality

Answer 4

A characteristic of thoughts and minds. Nothing merely physical can have it.

Question 5

Intention

Answer 5

Having a motive or purpose

Question 6

Hilary Putnam Beliefs

Answer 6

1. We could be brains in a vat, tied to a machine that stimulates reality. According to Putnam, this is a self-contradicting scenario. In order to have mental images, those mental images need to have referents for us. But if we are a brain in a vat, then we could not have the experience to make sense of the simulation.