Single Idea 3469

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 2. Interactionism]

Full Idea

There is no "link" between consciousness and the brain, any more than there is a link between the liquidity of water and the H2O molecules.

Gist of Idea

Mind and brain don't interact if they are the same

Source

John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Ch. 4.III)

Book Reference

Searle,John R.: 'The Rediscovery of the Mind' [MIT 1999], p.105


A Reaction

We say of some properties that 'x is F', and of others that 'x has F', and of others that 'x is F because of y' (as in a knife having sharpness because it is thin and hard). Consciousness might fit the third case just as well as the first.