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Single Idea 7371
[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / C. Functionalism / 6. Homuncular Functionalism
]
Full Idea
All varieties of functionalism can be viewed as 'homuncular' functionalism of one grain size or another.
Clarification
A 'homunculus' is a little man within the mind
Gist of Idea
All functionalism is 'homuncular', of one grain size or another
Source
Daniel C. Dennett (Consciousness Explained [1991], 9.2)
Book Ref
Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Consciousness Explained' [Penguin 1993], p.262
A Reaction
This seems right, as any huge and complex mechanism (like a moon rocket) will be made up of some main systems, then sub-systems, then sub-sub-sub.... This assumes that there are one or two overarching purposes, which there are in people.
The
71 ideas
from Daniel C. Dennett
2526
|
Philosophers regularly confuse failures of imagination with insights into necessity
[Dennett]
|
2524
|
A language of thought doesn't explain content
[Dennett]
|
2523
|
That every mammal has a mother is a secure reality, but without foundations
[Dennett]
|
2525
|
Maybe language is crucial to consciousness
[Dennett]
|
2527
|
Unconscious intentionality is the foundation of the mind
[Dennett]
|
2529
|
Maybe there can be non-conscious concepts (e.g. in bees)
[Dennett]
|
2528
|
Does consciousness need the concept of consciousness?
[Dennett]
|
2530
|
Could a robot be made conscious just by software?
[Dennett]
|
3158
|
Theories of intentionality presuppose rationality, so can't explain it
[Dennett]
|
3159
|
Beliefs and desires aren't real; they are prediction techniques
[Dennett]
|
7365
|
Dualism wallows in mystery, and to accept it is to give up
[Dennett]
|
7366
|
It is arbitrary to say which moment of brain processing is conscious
[Dennett]
|
7367
|
Perhaps the brain doesn't 'fill in' gaps in consciousness if no one is looking.
[Dennett]
|
7369
|
Brains are essentially anticipation machines
[Dennett]
|
7368
|
Originally there were no reasons, purposes or functions; since there were no interests, there were only causes
[Dennett]
|
7370
|
The brain is controlled by shifting coalitions, guided by good purposeful habits
[Dennett]
|
7371
|
All functionalism is 'homuncular', of one grain size or another
[Dennett]
|
7372
|
In peripheral vision we see objects without their details, so blindsight is not that special
[Dennett]
|
7373
|
Blindsight subjects glean very paltry information
[Dennett]
|
7374
|
Light wavelengths entering the eye are only indirectly related to object colours
[Dennett]
|
7376
|
We can't assume that dispositions will remain normal when qualia have been inverted
[Dennett]
|
7379
|
If an epiphenomenon has no physical effects, it has to be undetectable
[Dennett]
|
7380
|
Visual experience is composed of neural activity, which we find pleasing
[Dennett]
|
7383
|
The psychological self is an abstraction, not a thing in the brain
[Dennett]
|
7381
|
We tell stories about ourselves, to protect, control and define who we are
[Dennett]
|
7382
|
We spin narratives about ourselves, and the audience posits a centre of gravity for them
[Dennett]
|
7385
|
People accept blurred boundaries in many things, but insist self is All or Nothing
[Dennett]
|
7386
|
Selves are not soul-pearls, but artefacts of social processes
[Dennett]
|
7384
|
Words are fixed by being attached to similarity clusters, without mention of 'essences'
[Dennett]
|
7387
|
"Qualia" can be replaced by complex dispositional brain states
[Dennett]
|
7393
|
We can't draw a clear line between conscious and unconscious
[Dennett]
|
7391
|
We can know a lot of what it is like to be a bat, and nothing important is unknown
[Dennett]
|
7394
|
Conscious events can only be explained in terms of unconscious events
[Dennett]
|
14308
|
We can bring dispositions into existence, as in creating an identifier
[Dennett, by Mumford]
|
3804
|
Darwin's idea was the best idea ever
[Dennett]
|
3791
|
Awareness of thought is a step beyond awareness of the world
[Dennett]
|
3794
|
Foreknowledge permits control
[Dennett]
|
3795
|
Causal theories require the "right" sort of link (usually unspecified)
[Dennett]
|
3796
|
The active self is a fiction created because we are ignorant of our motivations
[Dennett]
|
3797
|
I am the sum total of what I directly control
[Dennett]
|
3798
|
An overexamined life is as bad as an unexamined one
[Dennett]
|
3800
|
You can be free even though force would have prevented you doing otherwise
[Dennett, by PG]
|
3801
|
Rationality requires the assumption that things are either for better or worse
[Dennett]
|
3802
|
Why pronounce impossible what you cannot imagine?
[Dennett]
|
3803
|
Can we conceive of a being with a will freer than our own?
[Dennett]
|
4608
|
Minds are hard-wired, or trial-and-error, or experimental, or full self-aware
[Dennett, by Heil]
|
4873
|
What is it like to notice an uncomfortable position when you are asleep?
[Dennett]
|
4872
|
Most people see an abortion differently if the foetus lacks a brain
[Dennett]
|
4875
|
We descend from robots, and our intentionality is composed of billions of crude intentional systems
[Dennett]
|
4874
|
The predecessor and rival of the language of thought hypothesis is the picture theory of ideas
[Dennett]
|
4877
|
Maybe plants are very slow (and sentient) animals, overlooked because we are faster?
[Dennett]
|
4878
|
The materials for a mind only matter because of speed, and a need for transducers and effectors
[Dennett]
|
4879
|
There is no more anger in adrenaline than silliness in a bottle of whiskey
[Dennett]
|
4876
|
Maybe there is a minimum brain speed for supporting a mind
[Dennett]
|
4880
|
Sentience comes in grades from robotic to super-human; we only draw a line for moral reasons
[Dennett]
|
4881
|
Being a person must involve having second-order beliefs and desires (about beliefs and desires)
[Dennett]
|
4882
|
Concepts are things we (unlike dogs) can think about, because we have language
[Dennett]
|
3983
|
Learning is evolution in the brain
[Dennett]
|
3985
|
Biology is a type of engineering, not a search for laws of nature
[Dennett]
|
3984
|
The nature of content is entirely based on its functional role
[Dennett]
|
3987
|
Like the 'centre of gravity', desires and beliefs are abstract concepts with no actual existence
[Dennett]
|
3986
|
The 'intentional stance' is a way of interpreting an entity by assuming it is rational and self-aware
[Dennett]
|
6624
|
Dennett denies the existence of qualia
[Dennett, by Lowe]
|
7654
|
What matters about neuro-science is the discovery of the functional role of the chemistry
[Dennett]
|
7656
|
I don't deny consciousness; it just isn't what people think it is
[Dennett]
|
7655
|
The work done by the 'homunculus in the theatre' must be spread amongst non-conscious agencies
[Dennett]
|
7657
|
Intelligent agents are composed of nested homunculi, of decreasing intelligence, ending in machines
[Dennett]
|
7658
|
Obviously there can't be a functional anaylsis of qualia if they are defined by intrinsic properties
[Dennett]
|
23803
|
States have content if we can predict them well by assuming intentionality
[Dennett, by Schulte]
|
3177
|
You couldn't drive a car without folk psychology
[Dennett]
|
3161
|
If mind is just an explanation, the explainer must have beliefs
[Rey on Dennett]
|