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Single Idea 2955
[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 8. Dualism of Mind Critique
]
Full Idea
If we assume that mental events are located in time, then it follows immediately, given special relativity, that they are also in space.
Clarification
'Special relativity' is Einstein's theory about the nature of space-time
Gist of Idea
If mental events occur in time, then relativity says they are in space
Source
Michael Lockwood (Mind, Brain and the Quantum [1989], p.73)
Book Ref
Lockwood,Michael: 'Mind,Brain and the Quantum:The Compound 'I'' [Blackwell 1991], p.73
A Reaction
A powerful point. Of course, there might (you never know) be something which exists in time but not space (and thoughts clearly exist in time), but (as in Hume's argument against miracles), dualism will overthrow your other basic beliefs about nature.
The
24 ideas
from Michael Lockwood
16362
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An identity statement aims at getting the hearer to merge two mental files
[Lockwood]
|
2949
|
We have the confused idea that time is a process of change
[Lockwood]
|
2958
|
No one has ever succeeded in producing an acceptable non-trivial analysis of anything
[Lockwood]
|
2959
|
If something is described in two different ways, is that two facts, or one fact presented in two ways?
[Lockwood]
|
2960
|
Commonsense realism must account for the similarity of genuine perceptions and known illusions
[Lockwood]
|
2961
|
Empiricism is a theory of meaning as well as of knowledge
[Lockwood]
|
2962
|
Maybe causation is a form of rational explanation, not an observation or a state of mind
[Lockwood]
|
2963
|
There may only be necessary and sufficient conditions (and counterfactuals) because we intervene in the world
[Lockwood]
|
2964
|
How come unconscious states also cause behaviour?
[Lockwood]
|
2966
|
Can phenomenal qualities exist unsensed?
[Lockwood]
|
2967
|
We might even learn some fundamental physics from introspection
[Lockwood]
|
2950
|
Only logical positivists ever believed behaviourism
[Lockwood]
|
2969
|
How does a direct realist distinguish a building from Buckingham Palace?
[Lockwood]
|
2970
|
Dogs seem to have beliefs, and beliefs require concepts
[Lockwood]
|
2971
|
Perhaps logical positivism showed that there is no dividing line between science and metaphysics
[Lockwood]
|
2951
|
Could there be unconscious beliefs and desires?
[Lockwood]
|
2952
|
A 1988 estimate gave the brain 3 x 10-to-the-14 synaptic junctions
[Lockwood]
|
2953
|
Fish may operate by blindsight
[Lockwood]
|
2954
|
Identity theory likes the identity of lightning and electrical discharges
[Lockwood]
|
2955
|
If mental events occur in time, then relativity says they are in space
[Lockwood]
|
2956
|
There is nothing so obvious that a philosopher cannot be found to deny it
[Lockwood]
|
4054
|
I may exist before I become a person, just as I exist before I become an adult
[Lockwood]
|
4055
|
It isn't obviously wicked to destroy a potential human being (e.g. an ununited egg and sperm)
[Lockwood]
|
4056
|
If the soul is held to leave the body at brain-death, it should arrive at the time of brain-creation
[Lockwood]
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