Mind and Causality
1st Edition
Published on 25. February 2004
XIV, 235 pages
978-90-272-9585-9 (ISBN)
Description
Which causal patterns are involved in mental processes?
On what mechanisms does the self-organisation of cognitive structure rest?
Can a naturalistic view account for the basic resources of intentionality, while avoiding the objections to reductive materialism?
By considering the developmental, phenomenological and biological aspects linking mind and causality, this volume offers a state-of-the art theoretical proposal emphasising the fine-tuning of cognition with the complexity of bodily dynamics. In contrast to the de-coupling of mind from the physical environment in classical information-processing models, growth of brain's architecture and stabilisation of perception-action cycles are considered decisive, with no need for an eliminative approach to representations pursued by neural network models. The tools provided by physics and biology for the description of massive causal interactions, on top of which 'qualitative' changes occur, are exploited to suggest a model of the mind as a many-layered, co-evolving system. (Series A)
On what mechanisms does the self-organisation of cognitive structure rest?
Can a naturalistic view account for the basic resources of intentionality, while avoiding the objections to reductive materialism?
By considering the developmental, phenomenological and biological aspects linking mind and causality, this volume offers a state-of-the art theoretical proposal emphasising the fine-tuning of cognition with the complexity of bodily dynamics. In contrast to the de-coupling of mind from the physical environment in classical information-processing models, growth of brain's architecture and stabilisation of perception-action cycles are considered decisive, with no need for an eliminative approach to representations pursued by neural network models. The tools provided by physics and biology for the description of massive causal interactions, on top of which 'qualitative' changes occur, are exploited to suggest a model of the mind as a many-layered, co-evolving system. (Series A)
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Alberto Peruzzi
Mind and Causality
Book
02/2004
John Benjamins Publishing Co
€111.30
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Content
- Mind and Causality
- Editorial page
- Title page
- LCC page
- Table of contents
- Preface
- Causality and development
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Changes in the meaning of causality: A potted history
- 3. Determinism versus indeterminism
- 4. Dynamical systems approaches: Determinism and indeterminism
- 5. Whither developmental causality?
- 6. A concluding remark
- References
- Perception of causality
- 1. Phenomenology of causality
- 2. The conditions for the perception of causality
- 3. The importance of Michotte's work
- 4. Causality and Gestalt problems in cognitive psychology
- 5. Spizzo's effect
- 6. Rhythmical patterns, dynamic systems and causality
- 7. Conclusion
- Note
- References
- Embodiment and the philosophy of mind
- 1. Introduction: The rediscovery of the body and of the world
- 2. Inner symbol flight
- 3. Radical interactionism
- 4. Minimal Cartesianism
- 5. Scaling, rationality and complexity
- Notes
- References
- Causes and motivations
- Premise
- 1. The phenomenal field
- 2. Language and the phenomenal field
- 3. Conclusions
- Notes
- References
- Mental causation and intentionality in a mind naturalising theory
- 1. Introduction
- 2. A definition of cognitive naturalism
- 3. K. Popper's criticism of materialism
- 4. A reply to Popper
- 5. Two kinds of epistemological pluralism: H. Putnam and J. McDowell
- 6. A reply to McDowell: Intentionality naturalised
- Notes
- References
- The envious frog
- 1. Identity theory and mental causation
- 2. The knowledge argument teaching
- 3. Correlation and identity
- 4. Getting rid of multiple realizability
- 5. Between universal and individual
- 6. Concluding remarks: Featuring mental states
- Notes
- References
- Knowing what it is like and knowing how
- Introduction
- 1. Mental states in a physical world
- 2. Mary's scientific knowledge
- 3. The ability reply
- 4. Resisting the ability reply
- 5. Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Human cognition
- 1. Human evolution and cognition
- 2. Brain size and the evolutionary process
- 3. The behavioral record
- 4. The origin of modern human consciousness
- 5. Conclusion
- References
- Space, time and cognition
- Introduction
- Part 1. An introduction to the space and time of modern physics
- 1.1. Taking leave of Laplace
- 1.2. Three types of physical theory: Relativity, quantum physics and the theory of critical transitions in the behaviour of dynamical systems
- 1.3. Some remarks
- Part 2. From physics to biology: Space and time in the ``field'' of living systems
- 2.1. The time of life
- 2.2. Three forms of time
- 2.3. Dynamics of the self-constitution of living systems
- 2.4. Morphogenesis
- 2.5. Information and geometric structure
- 2.6. Globality and circularity in space and time
- Part 3. Spatio-temporal determinacy and biology
- 3.1. Biological aspects
- 3.2. Space: Laws of scaling and of critical behaviour. The geometry of biological functions
- 3.3. Three types of time
- 3.4. Epistemological and mathematical aspects
- 3.5. Closing remarks
- Notes
- References**
- Causality in the texture of mind
- 1. The causal variety: Some ``framework'' remarks
- 2. Anisotropic causality
- 3. A couple of ``common-sense'' examples relevant for reduction and emergence
- 4. Dynamical systems and perception-action models
- Notes
- References
- Index
- The series ADVANCES IN CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH
