Ideas from 'The Making of a Philosopher' by Colin McGinn [2002], by Theme Structure

[found in 'The Making of a Philosopher' by McGinn,Colin [Scribner 2003,0-7432-3179-1]].

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15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 2. Unconscious Mind
If all mental life were conscious, we would be unable to see things, or to process speech
                        Full Idea: If there were nothing more to our mind than our conscious awareness, then we would be unable to see anything or to process speech.
                        From: Colin McGinn (The Making of a Philosopher [2002], Ch. 6)
                        A reaction: A vital point. Traditional dualism has left us a simplistic exaggeration of the role of consciousness, and the misapprehension that most of what we do is conscious - which it clearly isn't, once you think about it.
19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 3. Meaning as Speaker's Intention
If meaning is speaker's intentions, it can be reduced to propositional attitudes, and philosophy of mind
                        Full Idea: The importance of Grice's analysis of speaker meaning is that it offers the prospect of analysing the whole phenomenon of linguistic meaning in terms of propositional attitudes… thus turning semantics into a department of the philosophy of mind.
                        From: Colin McGinn (The Making of a Philosopher [2002], Ch. 5)
                        A reaction: Although meaning being truth conditions is the most cited theory, the reduction of semantics to an aspect of mind also seems almost orthodox now. But how do the symbols 'represent' the attitudes?