[Wittrs] Re: Stuart's Allegation of Dualism is SAD but Irrelevant
- From: "gabuddabout" <gabuddabout@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 00:14:05 -0000
Stuart writes:
"You miss the point -- again. The issue is what does it take to believe that
understanding cannot be constituted by a more robust system consisting of the
same elements as are found in the CR?"
Depends. Is it a S/H system or not? Are you ever going to make this
distinction or not?
"Searle's claim that "syntax does not constitute and is not sufficient for
semantics" depends on a belief that for syntax to do either of those two
things, semantics (understanding) MUST be present in any system containing
those elements, i.e., in the CR."
This is wrong in more than one way. Syntax, to do the job you think it might,
must be causally efficacious. Since it adds nothing to a nonS/H system, then
it is causally infecund. Patterns don't add any causality, especially if
defined functionally. Otoh, if syntax is the upshot of the formality of a
comp. program in a S/H system, then the machine by definition is not "machine
enough."
Anytime you have S/H separability, you can't have the program adding anything
causal to the system other than the electricity which carries the program.
So the upshot is that it is incoherent to think of syntax as adding anything
causal just as it is apparently the case that consciousness according to
Jaegwon Kim doesn't add any causality to third person 1st order properties of
brains.
Searle's nonproperty dualism has it that the causality of mental events is real
precisely because they are tied to the brain as a system level feature. I
intend to swat the tennis ball and my arm moves.
How to explain what is necessary and sufficient for such a nonreductive story
will include intentionalistic notions wedded to individualism a la how the
brain works. Externalism just doesn't touch this and is why some maintain that
meanings just aren't in the head (Putnam). On one level this is just nuts. It
depends on how you (an individual) set up your twin earth, though.
Cheers,
Budd
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