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Single Idea 4608

[from 'Kinds of Minds' by Daniel C. Dennett, in 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / e. Questions about mind ]

Full Idea

Dennett identifies a hierarchy of minds running from 'Darwinian' (hard-wired solutions to problems), to 'Skinnerian' (trial-and-error), to 'Popperian' (anticipating possible experience), to 'Gregorian' (self-conscious representation, probably linguistic).

Gist of Idea

Minds are hard-wired, or trial-and-error, or experimental, or full self-aware

Source

report of Daniel C. Dennett (Kinds of Minds [1996]) by John Heil - Philosophy of Mind Ch.5

Book Reference

Heil,John: 'Philosophy of Mind' [Routledge 1998], p.162


A Reaction

Interesting. The concept of an experiment seems a major step (assessing reality against an internal map), and the ability to think about one's own thoughts certainly strikes me as the mark of a top level mind. Maybe that is the importance of language.