[Wittrs] Re: Wittgenstein and "Brain Scripts"
- From: "iro3isdx" <xznwrjnk-evca@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:42:31 -0000
--- In Wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Sean Wilson <whoooo26505@...> wrote:
> That's a good point, but allow me to present a competing idea:
I agree that the blind student is a special case. I described it to
illustrate that when behaviorists say "thinking is behavior", they are
talking about genuine behavior, and not simply misapplying the term.
My own perspective is evolutionist. It seems to me that if the ability
to think is a product of evolution, then it is thinking about behavior
that is likely to have evolved. A lion, waiting to pounce, is probably
thinking about the timing of its action. I'm inclined to doubt that
peoples pet dogs are thinking about deep philosophical problems.
> For my money, language as a behavior is a different sort of
> thing -- it's cognitive behavior as opposed to bodily (ordinary)
> behavior.
Language involves a lot of intricately detailed use of motor actions,
and it is behavior because of that. It also can involve ideas, which
is what you are emphasizing. Some behaviorists seem to be rather
eliminativist with regard to the cognitive aspects of language, and
that's where I disagree a lot with those behaviorists. I suspect that
the more eliminativist behaviorists would disagree with my earlier
comment about "representing ideas in patterns of eye movements."
Regards,
Neil
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