Peter Slezak
Spectator in the Cartesian Theater: Where Theories of Mind Went Wrong since Descartes
Spectator in the Cartesian Theater: Where Theories of Mind Went Wrong since Descartes
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The "Cartesian Theater" metaphor suggests that a homunculus watches our thoughts on a screen, but Dennett's book "Spectator in the Cartesian Theater: Where Theories of Mind Went Wrong since Descartes" argues that Descartes was not guilty of this fallacy. Slezak's critiques of various theories of mind reveal that they rely on what is intuitively meaningful to us rather than what follows from the theory. He offers a novel solution to the Cogito argument, showing it to be akin to the Liar Paradox.
Format: Hardback
Length: 348 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books
The "Cartesian Theater" is a famous metaphor coined by philosopher Daniel Dennett to describe the idea that a homunculus, or "little man," watches the screen on which our thoughts appear. However, contrary to popular belief, Spectator in the Cartesian Theater: Where Theories of Mind Went Wrong since Descartes argues that Descartes was not guilty of the fallacy for which he has been blamed. In his physiological writings, neglected by philosophers, Descartes explained that the pseudo-explanation arises not from what is included in our theory of consciousness, but rather from what is missing. We fail to notice that the theory is incomplete because we are intuitively doing part of the explanatory work. That is, we are the spectators in the Cartesian Theater.
Peter Slezak provides detailed critiques of several theories of mind, including the Searles Chinese Room Argument, Kripkes theory of proper names, Davidson's semantics of natural language, and Kosslyn's theory of visual imagery. He shows that these theories rely on what is intuitively meaningful to us rather than what follows from the theory. Slezak offers a novel solution to the elusive logic of the Cogito argument, showing it to be akin to the Liar Paradox. Since Descartes' perplexity is our own, this shows how the subjective certainty of consciousness and the mind-body problem can arise for a physical system. An intelligent computer would think that it isn't one.
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666923759
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