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Single Idea 3462

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 4. Folk Psychology ]

Full Idea

We do not postulate beliefs and desires to account for anything; we simply experience conscious beliefs and desires.

Gist of Idea

We don't postulate folk psychology, we experience it

Source

John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Ch. 2 App)

Book Ref

Searle,John R.: 'The Rediscovery of the Mind' [MIT 1999], p.59


A Reaction

Searle is too fond of reporting what we 'simply' know. Beliefs and desires are pushed forward by a cultural tradition. What I actually experience is a confusion, always laced with emotion.


The 19 ideas with the same theme [is the truth about minds found in normal speech?]:

Can we give a scientific, computational account of folk psychology? [Putnam]
We don't postulate folk psychology, we experience it [Searle]
Folk psychology covers input, internal role, and output [Jackson]
A culture without our folk psychology would be quite baffling [Kim]
Folk psychology has been remarkably durable [Kim]
Maybe folk psychology is a simulation, not a theory [Kim]
Folk psychology has adapted to Freudianism [Kim]
Folk psychology makes good predictions, by associating mental states with causal roles [Lewis]
If folk psychology gives a network of causal laws, that fits neatly with functionalism [Churchland,PM]
Many mental phenomena are totally unexplained by folk psychology [Churchland,PM]
Folk psychology never makes any progress, and is marginalised by modern science [Churchland,PM]
Like the 'centre of gravity', desires and beliefs are abstract concepts with no actual existence [Dennett]
You couldn't drive a car without folk psychology [Dennett]
Folk psychology explains behaviour by reference to intentional states like belief and desire [Fodor]
Folk psychology is the only explanation of behaviour we have [Fodor]
Folk psychology works badly for alien cultures [Lyons]
Folk psychology and neuroscience are no more competitors than cartography and geology are [Heil]
Folk psychology is ridiculously dualist in its assumptions [Segal]
Folk essentialism rests on belief in natural kinds, in hidden properties, and on words indicating structures [Gelman]