Armstrong’s theory that the mind is the inner cause of a certain behaviour and his idea that it is associated with a physicalist view of human beings, is a complex idea that is also the result of a complex philosophical ‘problem’, one that philosophers from millennia ago tried to solve but it can be said that it is still not solved yet. It is known as the body mind problem and the term physicalism, is by itself an approach to how this problem has been interpreted by different philosophers. The mind-body problem is the attempt to define what each of them is and how these two concepts or aspects are connected to each other, how they are related and in what way we can figure the source of this “problem”, one that he considers unsolved thus far.(D.M
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However, this is the case for transcendental idealism, represented by Immanuel Kant( Martin, 1995 :57) but this philosophical doctrine has been contradicted by philosophers such as Plato, with a more objective view of idealism, which accentuates that the truth is a can be perceived the same by everyone, hence concepts such as the common sense exists. (Peirce, C. S. 1891: …show more content…
It also contradicts the behaviourist’s view which assigns each mental state to certain behaviours, a view that he considered problematic since the disposition to behave in a certain way is still there even if the individual does not demonstrate certain behaviour. However, Armstrong’s analysis of what the mind is, can be classified as physicalist, as he concludes that the physicalist view is possible since conscience of a certain individual is the perception of the individual’s mental state. Hence the individual is given the capacity for selective behaviour towards their mental state. He therefore concludes that the consciousness of an individual’s mental state is the scanning of one part of their central nervous system by another. This explanation rends the mind a physical instrument, since concepts such as mental state and consciousness are attributed to the central nervous system, which is a physical part of the brain. Hence, as mentioned above the core idea of this philosophical theory is that mental states and consciousness are constituted solely by the realisation of their functional role and they are related to other mental states as well as behavioural
However, this is the case for transcendental idealism, represented by Immanuel Kant( Martin, 1995 :57) but this philosophical doctrine has been contradicted by philosophers such as Plato, with a more objective view of idealism, which accentuates that the truth is a can be perceived the same by everyone, hence concepts such as the common sense exists. (Peirce, C. S. 1891: …show more content…
It also contradicts the behaviourist’s view which assigns each mental state to certain behaviours, a view that he considered problematic since the disposition to behave in a certain way is still there even if the individual does not demonstrate certain behaviour. However, Armstrong’s analysis of what the mind is, can be classified as physicalist, as he concludes that the physicalist view is possible since conscience of a certain individual is the perception of the individual’s mental state. Hence the individual is given the capacity for selective behaviour towards their mental state. He therefore concludes that the consciousness of an individual’s mental state is the scanning of one part of their central nervous system by another. This explanation rends the mind a physical instrument, since concepts such as mental state and consciousness are attributed to the central nervous system, which is a physical part of the brain. Hence, as mentioned above the core idea of this philosophical theory is that mental states and consciousness are constituted solely by the realisation of their functional role and they are related to other mental states as well as behavioural