[Wittrs] Are We Actually Going to Discuss Searle's Reasoning Now?
- From: Joseph Polanik <jpolanik@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:47:57 -0400
SWM wrote:
>I made a case for Searle's dualism based on what Searle says in his
>CRA ... I defend my position by going through Searle's reasoning that I
>have said involves making a dualist assumption in order to support the
>conclusion of the CRA.
at last you are beginning to recognize the problem; and, that's a small
step toward overcoming that problem.
instead of alleging that Searle's reasoning based on the CRT was
inadequate to prove that the third axiom of the CRA was true, you've
spent years alleging that something in Searle's reasoning implied,
entailed and/or presumed Cartesian dualism.
do you wish to continue discussing Searle's alleged dualism; or, do you
you wish to begin discussing Searle's reasoning in relation to the
argument that the third axiom is true?
if the latter, then there are *many* unanswered questions about your
reading of Searle's reasoning. here are two to get you started.
for Dennett, consciousness is a system property of the brain. you allege
that, for Searle, consciousness is a process property of the brain.
assuming that this is Searle's position, would you explain how the claim
that consciousness is a process property of the brain undermines
Searle's case that the third axiom is true --- without digressing into
further irrelevant blathering about implications of dualism.
secondly, would you explain the basis for the claim that Searle holds
that consciousness is a process property of the brain?
it seems to me that Searle's actual position is that consciousness is a
system property of the brain; although, AFAIK, he never uses the exact
phrase 'system property'.
my impression as to Searle's actual position is based on the following
passage from "Consciousness as a biological problem" which is one of the
essays collected in _The Mystery of Consciousness_ [p. 17-18].
"To summarize my general position, then, on how brain research can
proceed in answering the questions that bother us: the brain is an organ
like any other; it is an organic machine. Consciousness is caused by
lower-level neuronal processes in the brain and is itself a feature of
the brain. Because it is a feature that emerges from certain neuronal
activities, we can think of it as an 'emergent property' of the brain.
An emergent property of a system is one that is causally explained by
the behavior of the elements of the system; but, it is not a property of
any individual elements and it cannot be explained simply as a summation
of the properties of those elements. The liquidity of water is a good
example: the behavior of the H20 molecules explains liquidity but the
individual molecules are not liquid".
you may be tempted to explain how this passage shows that Searle is a
closet Cartesian dualist; but, you are free to explain how this passage
undermines Searle's case that the third axiom of the CRA is true.
it's your call.
Joe
--
Nothing Unreal is Self-Aware
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http://what-am-i.net
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