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Full Idea
Does the mind have a function - say, management, authority and planning? And isn't one's way of life a function of the mind?
Clarification
'Mind' is the Greek word 'psuché', which covers mind and consciousness and life
Gist of Idea
Is the function of the mind management, authority and planning - or is it one's whole way of life?
Source
Plato (The Republic [c.374 BCE], 353d)
Book Ref
Plato: 'Republic', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1993], p.41
A Reaction
Note that this is Plato, not some Darwinian materialist. This strikes me as the correct starting point - what does a mind appear to be for (with or without the help of Darwin)? Plato's proposals seem good (though we could cut 'authority').
Related Idea
Idea 23883 Minds essentially and always strive towards value [Weil]
| 2096 | Is the function of the mind management, authority and planning - or is it one's whole way of life? [Plato] |
| 4608 | Minds are hard-wired, or trial-and-error, or experimental, or full self-aware [Dennett, by Heil] |
| 2443 | I say psychology is intentional, semantics is informational, and thinking is computation [Fodor] |
| 2994 | In CRTT thought may be represented, content must be [Fodor] |
| 7852 | The only serious mind-brain theories now are identity, token identity, realization and supervenience [Papineau] |
| 3136 | The three theories are reduction, dualism, eliminativism [Rey] |
| 4610 | Different generations focus on either the quality of mind, or its scientific standing, or the content of thought [Heil] |
| 2537 | Types are properties, and tokens are events. Are they split between mental and physical, or not? [Sturgeon] |
| 2534 | Mindless bodies are zombies, bodiless minds are ghosts [Sturgeon] |
| 6617 | The main questions are: is mind distinct from body, and does it have unique properties? [Lowe] |