Abstract
What has become known in philosophy as the 'mind-body problem' is, in fact, best regarded as a collection of related problems. The 'item' problem is the problem of understanding the nature of mental items. The category of mental items, in turn, breaks down into two basic sorts: mental 'types' or kinds of mental state, and mental 'tokens' - concrete, dated, nonrepeatable instances of those kinds. Accordingly, the mind-body problem comprises two distinct item problems. The 'essence' problem is that of understanding the nature of the defining features of the mental - and traditionally these have been understood as 'consciousness' and 'intentionality'. Accordingly, the mind-body problem also comprises two distinct essence problems. This article examines these mind-body problems.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Consciousness |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 43-55 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780123738738 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2009 |
Keywords
- Consciousness
- Dualism
- Functionalism
- Identity theory
- Intentionality
- Supervenience
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)