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Abstract
Starting from the tension and integration between cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this paper analyzes the waxing and waning of physicalism versus mentalism over the last century and defends an anti-reductionist ontology of the mind. It first argues that “function logically precedes structure” and then refutes two classic arguments about the mind-brain problem. The paper shows that if structure is treated as the logical premise of function, discussions of the mind-brain problem will inevitably lead to dualism or reductionism. Structure cannot explain its own occurrence; instead, if function, which logically precedes structure, is taken as the starting point of the explanation, then the principle of the “ladder of explanation” will be satisfied. A higher-level theory can explain lower-level observed facts, and lower-level observed facts are the cognitive starting point leading to a theory through induction. We conclude that function logically precedes structure; therefore, logically, “the mind shapes the brain.” The logical sequence from function to structure represents a reverse strategy for solving the mind-brain problem.
Notes
1 Jiang Ke, “The Evolution of Psychology under the Mind-Body Tension.”
2 Stephen P. Stich and Ted A. Warfield, eds., The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind.
3 The Tesla AI Day was held on September 30, 2022 (Friday) in Palo Alto in the Bay Area of California. At the launch, Elon Musk described this prospect.
4 The definition and differentiation of “mind,” “self” and “consciousness” are big philosophical questions in themselves, and are beyond the scope of this paper. Previous discussions have provided no clear explanations or differentiation of these concepts. Arguments concerning these concepts (terms) constitute important topics of the philosophy of the mind and metaphysics. The concept of mind derives in its entirety from the experience of self, which constitutes consciousness, while the orientation and concentration of consciousness is called awareness. However, when carefully analyzing the latter concept, we find that the logical order of the series of underlying concepts is vague and confusing. Eventually, all questions are subsumed under “mind,” “self” or “consciousness.” That is to say, mind, self and consciousness are a group of concepts that define one another in a mutual or circular way, or in other words, they are the different names given to an object discussed from different perspectives. There have been many discussions about the accurate identification and different uses of these concepts, but due to limitations of space and for the sake of convenience in the arguments below, we do not dwell on them here. Instead, we use “mind” as a representative umbrella term for this set of concepts.
5 William James, The Principles of Psychology.
6 Jean Piaget, Structuralism.
7 Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind.
8 Jean Piaget, Structuralism.
9 Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind, pp. 140-142.
10 Stephen P. Stich and Ted A. Warfield, eds., The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind; Jiang Ke, “The Predicament of and Possible Solutions to Reductionist Presuppositions in Cognitive Neuroscience.”
11 Jean Piaget, Structuralism, pp. 13-18.
12 Jiang Ke, “The Predicament of and Possible Solutions to Reductionist Presuppositions in Cognitive Neuroscience.”
13 Xi Jiawen and Jiang Ke, “Is the Mind Shaped by Evolution a Function or a Structure?”.
14 Michael Gazzaniga, Richard B. Ivry and George R. Mangun, Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind.
15 Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will.
16 Thomas H. Leahey, A History of Psychology: From Antiquity to Modernity; Jiang Ke, “To Understand How the ‘Ladder of Explanation’ Constructs Perception through Induction.”
17 Jean Piaget, “Du rapport entre la logique des propositions et les « groupements » de classes ou de relations.”
18 See Chen Guu-ying, Contemporary Notes and Paraphrase of the Laozi.
19 Jiang Ke, “Computer Simulation of the Brain and the Strategy of Functional Calculation.”
20 Bertrand Russell, Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits.
21 René Descartes, Discourse on the Method.
22 Bertrand Russell, Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits.
23 Jiang Ke, “Turing Test, Reverse Turing Test and the Meaning of Mind.”
24 Rebecca S. Moore, Rachel Kaletsky and Coleen T. Murphy, “Piwi/PRG-1 Argonaute and TGF-β Mediate Transgenerational Learned Pathogenic Avoidance,” pp. 1827-1841.
25 Jiang Ke and Lin Chunting, “Why Is the BoBo Doll Experiment So Important?”