Outline of a new approach to the nature of mind



advanced if only we develop biologically constrained theories was not really taken
up.

The objective of this section is to build on and extend Hebb’s theory of thought
consistently with the key requirements of the philosophical and computational
approaches. Specifically, such a theory should ideally be:

a) Described in terms of a naturalistic theory of meaning.

b) Broad enough to encompass animal, and ideally machine, thinking.

c) Rich enough to be able to account for human thinking.

d) In accordance with observable behavior and biological evidence.

e) An integral part of a (much larger) theory of mind.

The proposed theory makes only two additions to Hebb’s classic work. First, it
addresses the mind-body problem in terms of neural formations. Second, it extends
the notion of ‘thinking’ to fully cover condition (b).

2.1.1.1 The structure of the animal mind: A biological theory of meaning

The pursuit of a theory of meaning is one of the fundamental issues of cognitive
science. Some would argue that it is the discipline’s holy grail (e.g., Jackendoff 2002,
2003). Among philosophers, a few claim that it is an eliminable notion (e.g., Searle
1992, meaning as derived intentionality of linguistic elements), others that is the
foundation for all philosophy (Dummett 1973). Having accepted its necessity, some
have argued for (e.g., Katz 1972) and some against (e.g., Putnam 1988) the
possibility of developing a theory of meaning. Table 1 provides a summary of the key
advantages and disadvantages of the main theories of meaning along with a succinct
presentation of their views on its nature.8 Despite the immense amount of work
though, no widely accepted theory of the nature of meaning exists.

Table 1. Summary of key advantages and disadvantages of the main theories of
meaning.

Name    and    Key

proponents____________

Nature of Meaning

Main Advantage

Main Disadvantage

RTM. Russell 1905,

1919.9_____________________

The language-world link

Pinpointed the relation of
language to the world___________

Too narrow. It cannot account for e.g.,
indexicals._______________________________

ITM. Grice, 1957, 1968,
1969._____________________

Intended    effect    on

audience.__________________

Distinguishes between linguistic
and non-linguistic meaning.______

Inability to combine personal with
public meanings._______________________

UTM.      Wittgenstein,

↑1953.__________________

Use.

Recognizes the effect of context
on meaning.___________________

Ignores underlying mechanisms.

LTM10. Katz & Fodor
1963; Chomsky 1965.

Purely linguistic.

Inclusion of syntax to account
for meaning.____________________

Excludes context and the world.

TTM. Tarski 1944;
Davidson, 1967, 1973,
1974.11______________________

Knowledge of truth
conditions.

(a) Pinpoints the relation of
thought to the world. (b)
Succinct representations._________

Cannot account for non-truth
conditions.

AITM. Jonhson-Laird

1977._____________________

Procedure.

As with UTM.

As with TTM (b)______________

Cannot account for non-executable

expressions._____________________________

Id.TM. Locke 1690;

Saussure ↑2006; Ogden
and Richards 1923.________

Encoding.

Considers the close relation of
language to thought.

Cannot account for the abstraction
problem.

BTM. a) Osgood, 1971,
Osgood & McGuigan
1973.

b) Dretske 1981.

c) Millikan     1984,

Macdonald & Papineau
2006.

a) Function of response.

b) The condition that
typically causes an
intentional state.

c) Truth conditions of
intentional states in terms
of the biological functions
of these states.______________

Brings in our relation to things.

Does not recognize perceptual effects
on meaning.

STM, Mead ↑1934*1962.

Reside      in      social

collectivities.

Take into account the
sociocultural dimension of
meaning.______________________

Ignore the biological dimension.

TM = Theory of Meaning
RTM = Referential TM

TTM = Truth TM

STM = Social TM



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