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Single Idea 3460
[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / B. Behaviourism / 4. Behaviourism Critique
]
Full Idea
Putnam proposed the superactor/superspartan objection to behaviourism.
Clarification
'Superactors' perfectly simulate feelings they don't have; 'Superspartans' perfectly suppress extremely strong feelings
Gist of Idea
Superactors and superspartans count against behaviourism
Source
report of Hilary Putnam (Brains and Behaviour [1963]) by John Searle - The Rediscovery of the Mind Ch. 2.II
Book Ref
Searle,John R.: 'The Rediscovery of the Mind' [MIT 1999], p.35
A Reaction
This is a beautiful compression of the obvious counterexamples, which are behaviour-wth-no-experience, and experience-with-no-behaviour. Presumably, though, Spartans are disposed to go 'aagh!' when they get home, and there are no 'super' actors.
The
25 ideas
with the same theme
[reasons why behaviourism is false]:
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6433
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Behaviourists struggle to explain memory and imagination, because they won't admit images
[Russell]
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5778
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If we object to all data which is 'introspective' we will cease to believe in toothaches
[Russell]
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2387
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How can behaviour be the cause of behaviour?
[Chalmers on Ryle]
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2568
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Beliefs aren't tied to particular behaviours
[Geach]
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3460
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Superactors and superspartans count against behaviourism
[Putnam, by Searle]
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2591
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Total paralysis would mean that there were mental states but no behaviour at all
[Putnam]
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4983
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There are no rules linking thought and behaviour, because endless other thoughts intervene
[Davidson]
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3458
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Mental states only relate to behaviour contingently, not necessarily
[Searle]
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3485
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Wanting H2O only differs from wanting water in its mental component
[Searle]
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3370
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What behaviour goes with mathematical beliefs?
[Kim]
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3371
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Behaviour depends on lots of mental states together
[Kim]
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3372
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Behaviour is determined by society as well as mental states
[Kim]
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3373
|
Snakes have different pain behaviour from us
[Kim]
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3001
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Behaviourism has no theory of mental causation
[Fodor]
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4990
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The inverted spectrum idea is often regarded as an objection to behaviourism
[Kirk,R]
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2950
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Only logical positivists ever believed behaviourism
[Lockwood]
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3167
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Animals don't just respond to stimuli, they experiment
[Rey]
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3173
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How are stimuli and responses 'similar'?
[Rey]
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3179
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Behaviour is too contingent and irrelevant to be the mind
[Rey]
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5347
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Behaviourism notoriously has nothing to say about mental causation
[Flanagan]
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4267
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Conditioning may change behaviour without changing the mind
[Scruton]
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6554
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Two behaviourists meet. The first says,"You're fine; how am I?"
[Lycan]
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4595
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No mental state entails inevitable behaviour, because other beliefs or desires may intervene
[Heil]
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6621
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You can only identify behaviour by ascribing belief, so the behaviour can't explain the belief
[Lowe]
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9392
|
How do behaviourists greet each other?
[Sommers,W]
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