Ryle, Descartes' Myth - David James Bar
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DESCARTES’ MYTH Gilbert Ryle
Transcript of Ryle, Descartes' Myth - David James Bar
DESCARTES’ MYTHGilbert Ryle
DAVID PAPINEAU’S CAUSAL ARGUMENT FOR MATERIALISM
➤Re (1): rejection of epiphenomenalism
➤Re (2): “causal completeness of physics” ➤empirical support:
➤conservation of energy ➤no evidence of nonphysical
causes in biology ➤Re (3): rejection of
overdetermination ➤overdetermination = full
causation by two distinct causes
1. Conscious mental occurrences have physical effects.
2. All physical effects are fully caused by purely physical occurrences.
3. The physical effects of conscious states aren’t always overdetermined.
4. Therefore, conscious mental occurrences are physical occurrences.
KIM’S PAIRING PROBLEM
➤ Dualist’s should concede:
➤ possibility of two intrinsic duplicate minds
➤ possibility that just one of these minds causes my arm to raise.
➤ Jaegwon Kim: Dualist cannot accommodate this possibility.
➤ Compare: two intrinsic duplicate stars, only one causing planet to orbit
➤ Karen Bennett: Dualist could claim causation is primitive.
SUPERVENIENCE
➤ original Picasso vs. perfect forgery:
➤ equally beautiful?
➤ equally valuable?
➤ Beauty supervenes on placement of paint on canvas.
➤ same paint placement entails same beauty
➤ Value does not supervene on placement of paint.
➤ A supervenes on B = no difference in A without difference in B
➤ Do causal facts supervene on non-causal facts?
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE
immaterial, transparent, private
CATEGORY MISTAKE
➤ Ryle’s examples:
➤ University vs. Victoria College, Alumni Hall, etc.
➤ division vs. battalion, squadron, etc.
➤ British Constitution vs. Parliament, Ministries, etc.
➤ Average Taxpayer vs. John Doe, Richard Roe, etc.
➤ Do examples illustrate common type of mistake?
➤ confusing “logical types”
LOGICAL BEHAVIOURISM
➤ Fragility: disposition to shatter
➤ Irritability: disposition to “snap”
➤ Behaviourism: mental state concepts definable by behavioural dispositions
➤ so, mental states supervene on behavioural dispositions
➤ Objection 1: feeling itch more than disposition to scratch
➤ Objection 2: behavioural duplicates that aren’t mental duplicates
➤ Hilary Putnam’s “super spartans”
➤ Searle’s Chinese room
