Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Unconscious Cerebral Initiative', 'Course of Positive Philosophy' and 'The World'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts

---

6 ideas

1. Philosophy / G. Scientific Philosophy / 2. Positivism

7491	The phases of human thought are theological, then metaphysical, then positivist [Comte, by Watson]
	Full Idea: The first phase of humanity was theological, attributing phenomena to a deity, the second metaphysical stage attributed them to abstract forms, the third positive stage abandons ultimate causes and just searches for regularities.
	From: report of Auguste Comte (Course of Positive Philosophy [1846]) by Peter Watson - Ideas Ch.32
	A reaction: This is obviously a highly empirical programme, which reasserts Hume's view of the laws of nature. Effectively, positivism just is the rejection of metaphysics.

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / d. Secondary qualities

22593	Our sensation of light may not be the same as what produces the sensation [Descartes]
	Full Idea: There can be a difference between our sensation of light and what is in the objects that produce that sensation in us.
	From: René Descartes (The World [1631]), quoted by Ian Dunt - How to be a Liberal 1
	A reaction: Note only that they 'may' differ, and that he does not assert that they are entirely different. Secondary qualities give information, and are not just mental events.

20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act

7861	Libet says the processes initiated in the cortex can still be consciously changed [Libet, by Papineau]
	Full Idea: Libet himself points out that the conscious decisions still have the power to 'endorse' or 'cancel', so to speak, the processes initiated by the earlier cortical activity: no action will result if the action's execution is consciously countermanded.
	From: report of Benjamin Libet (Unconscious Cerebral Initiative [1985]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness 1.4
	A reaction: This is why Libet's findings do not imply 'epiphenomenalism'. It seems that part of a decisive action is non-conscious, undermining the all-or-nothing view of consciousness. Searle tries to smuggle in free will at this point (Idea 3817).

6660	Libet found conscious choice 0.2 secs before movement, well after unconscious 'readiness potential' [Libet, by Lowe]
	Full Idea: Libet found that a subject's conscious choice to move was about a fifth of a second before movement, and thus later than the onset of the brain's so-called 'readiness potential', which seems to imply that unconscious processes initiates action.
	From: report of Benjamin Libet (Unconscious Cerebral Initiative [1985]) by E.J. Lowe - Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind Ch.9
	A reaction: Of great interest to philosophers! It seems to make conscious choices epiphenomenal. The key move, I think, is to give up the idea of consciousness as being all-or-nothing. My actions are still initiated by 'me', but 'me' shades off into unconsciousness.

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / f. Ancient elements

16569	The Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry of the philosophers need themselves to be explained [Descartes]
	Full Idea: If you find it strange that in explaining these elements I do not use the qualities called Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry - as the philosophers do - I shall say to you that these qualities themselves seem to me to need explanation.
	From: René Descartes (The World [1631], 9:25-6), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 1.3
	A reaction: Nice. I take pushing the boundaries of explanation back (or down) to be the basic driving force of all human thought, in metaphysics as well as in physics.

27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / b. Laws of motion

20964	Descartes said there was conservation of 'quantity of motion' [Descartes, by Papineau]
	Full Idea: Descartes incorporated the conservation of what he called 'quantity of motion', by which he meant mass times speed.
	From: report of René Descartes (The World [1631]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness App 2
	A reaction: Mass times velocity is now called 'momentum'. Is this the first ever conservation law? There are now lots of them.