more from Donald Davidson

Single Idea 5497

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 2. Anomalous Monism]

Full Idea

For Davidson, mental types are individuated by considerations that are nonscientific, distinctly humanistic, and part normative, so will not coincide with any types that are designated in scientific terms.

Clarification

'Normative' means it creates and follows rules

Gist of Idea

Mind is outside science, because it is humanistic and partly normative

Source

report of Donald Davidson (Mental Events [1970]) by William Lycan - Introduction - Ontology p.8

Book Reference

'Mind and Cognition (2nd Edn)', ed/tr. Lycan,William [Blackwell 1999], p.8


A Reaction

I just don't believe this, mainly because I don't accept that there is a category called 'nonscientific'. All we are saying is that a brain is a hugely complicated object, and we don't properly understand its operations, though we relate to it very well.