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Full Idea
I am taking mental types to form a small subclass of teleological types occurring for the most part at a high level of functional abstraction.
Clarification
'Teleological types' are identified by their purposes
Gist of Idea
Mental types are a subclass of teleological types at a high level of functional abstraction
Source
William Lycan (Consciousness [1987], 4.3)
Book Ref
Lycan,William G.: 'Consciousness' [MIT 1995], p.43
A Reaction
He goes on to say that he understand teleology in evolutionary terms. There is always a gap between how you characterise or individuate something, and what it actually is. To say spanners are 'a small subclass of tools' is not enough.
| 7438 | A causal theory of mentality would be improved by a teleological element [Armstrong] |
| 6533 | Mental types are a subclass of teleological types at a high level of functional abstraction [Lycan] |
| 6535 | Teleological characterisations shade off smoothly into brutely physical ones [Lycan] |
| 5499 | A mental state is a functional realisation of a brain state when it serves the purpose of the organism [Lycan] |
| 6378 | Teleological functions explain why a trait exists; causal-role functions say what it does [Polger] |