Psychology and Philosophy of Mind

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1. Psychology and Philosophy of Mind
2. Anton Wilhelm Amo
3. Amo’s Philosophy of MindAnton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759?),
4. Amo’s Philosophy of MindApatheia, from which we
5. Mind as PassiveAmo focuses on a distinction
6. SensationSensation, traditionally, is thought to be similar
7. SensationSensation, Amo argues, is essentially bodily It
8. Sensation
9. The MindBut how does interaction between object
10. Amo’s ParadoxThe mind as spiritual substance is
11. IdeasFor Descartes, the gap between sensation and
12. Two RolesBut Descartes is assigning ideas two
13. Two RolesAmo argues that a spiritual substance
14. A Thing that Thinks—and SensesWe are not
15. Mind and BrainThe Akan language treats mind
16. MindThe mind is a “permanent possibility of
17. Basis of the MindFor the Akan, the
18. Mind and PersonA person consists of body,
19. Mind and BodyThis dissolves the mind/body problemSince
20. DualitiesWestern philosophers often split the self into
21. CreativityThe distinction between male and female provides
22. CreativityHuman beings are thus essentially creative Our
23. FreedomOur creative essence rests on our freedom
24. FreedomOur creative essence also rests on our
25. “A Thing that Acts”Descartes writes, “What am
26. “A Thing that Acts”
27. Personal IdentityPhilosophers of mind ask not only
28. Personal IdentityAm I really the same person
29. Mind/Body/IdentityThese questions are closely related If I
30. Divided SelfThe Yoruba, like many west African
31. Thought ExperimentsIf Jones’s brain (or mind) is
32. Thought ExperimentsJones? Smith?The Yoruba want to know
33. PersonalityI am a being consisting of body
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Anton Wilhelm Amo

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Слайд 1Psychology and Philosophy of Mind

Слайд 2Anton Wilhelm Amo

Слайд 3Amo’s Philosophy of Mind
Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759?), a native of

Ghana, became the first black professor in Germany
The Apatheia of

the Human Mind: a critique of Descartes’s dualism

Amo’s Philosophy of MindAnton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759?), a native of Ghana, became the first black professor in

Слайд 4Amo’s Philosophy of Mind
Apatheia, from which we derive the word

apathy, means nonreactiveness, passionlessness, imperturbability, or unresponsiveness
The Stoics thought

of apatheia as an ideal state in which the mind is free of emotions and passions
But Amo uses it more broadly

Amo’s Philosophy of MindApatheia, from which we derive the word apathy, means nonreactiveness, passionlessness, imperturbability, or unresponsiveness

Слайд 5Mind as Passive
Amo focuses on a distinction that underlies much

Western thought about the mind
Emotions are called passions because

the mind is thought to be passive in receiving them
Anger, love, desire, pleasure, pain are thought to be active in affecting the mind, which is passive in being affected by their causal power

Mind as PassiveAmo focuses on a distinction that underlies much Western thought about the mind Emotions are

Слайд 6Sensation
Sensation, traditionally, is thought to be similar to passion
The

mind passively receives sensory impressions from the world
Notice the imagery:

The world makes impressions on the mind much as a seal might make an impression on hot wax
The mind is active, on this picture, only when it exercises reason

SensationSensation, traditionally, is thought to be similar to passion The mind passively receives sensory impressions from the

Слайд 7Sensation
Sensation, Amo argues, is essentially bodily
It requires a complex

physical interaction between a physical object and a perceiver’s body

SensationSensation, Amo argues, is essentially bodily It requires a complex physical interaction between a physical object and

Слайд 8Sensation

Слайд 9The Mind
But how does interaction between object and body have

any effect on the mind?
Amo grants the Cartesian assumption

that the mind is a spiritual substance
But a spiritual substance, he insists, is purely active and immaterial
It always gains understanding through itself (i.e., directly), and acts from self-motion and with intention in regard to an end and goal of which it is conscious to itself

The MindBut how does interaction between object and body have any effect on the mind? Amo grants

Слайд 10Amo’s Paradox
The mind as spiritual substance is purely active
Anything receiving

sensations is in so doing purely passive

Слайд 11Ideas
For Descartes, the gap between sensation and reason is filled

with ideas; indeed, Descartes’s contribution to early modern philosophy is

often summarized as “the new way of ideas.”

IdeasFor Descartes, the gap between sensation and reason is filled with ideas; indeed, Descartes’s contribution to early

Слайд 12Two Roles
But Descartes is assigning ideas two different and, in

Amo’s eyes, incompatible roles
There is a difference between Jones’s

thinking ‘There’s a table’ and seeing the table

Two RolesBut Descartes is assigning ideas two different and, in Amo’s eyes, incompatible roles There is a

Слайд 13Two Roles
Amo argues that a spiritual substance could think, but

not see, hear, or feel
The actual sensing must be

material
The faculty of sensation is not mental but physical

Two RolesAmo argues that a spiritual substance could think, but not see, hear, or feel The actual

Слайд 14A Thing that Thinks—and Senses
We are not essentially things that

think, as Descartes declares, and only inessentially bodies
We are

essentially both
A person is essentially a thinking being, but also essentially a sensing being, and therefore essentially embodied

A Thing that Thinks—and SensesWe are not essentially things that think, as Descartes declares, and only inessentially

Слайд 15Mind and Brain
The Akan language treats mind (adwene) as intellectual—a

faculty of thinking rather than sensing or feeling.
In Western

thought, identity theorists hold that the mind and brain are identical.
For the Akan, such an identification is impossible.

Mind and BrainThe Akan language treats mind (adwene) as intellectual—a faculty of thinking rather than sensing or

Слайд 16Mind
The mind is a “permanent possibility of thought,” which is

not an object at all
The mind consists of thoughts,

but it is not simply a bundle of thoughts
It is a certain kind of capacity, a capacity to have thoughts

MindThe mind is a “permanent possibility of thought,” which is not an object at all The mind

Слайд 17Basis of the Mind
For the Akan, the brain is the

basis of the mind
It is by having a brain that

I have the capacity for thought

Basis of the MindFor the Akan, the brain is the basis of the mindIt is by having

Слайд 18Mind and Person
A person consists of body, life-force, and personality

The mind is not a constituent of a person, for

the simple reason that it is not a thing
The mind is not a component of a person for the same reason that moving is not a part of a car

Mind and PersonA person consists of body, life-force, and personality The mind is not a constituent of

Слайд 19Mind and Body
This dissolves the mind/body problem
Since the mind is

not a thing, the question of how it can relate

to a material thing, the body, does not arise

Mind and BodyThis dissolves the mind/body problemSince the mind is not a thing, the question of how

Слайд 20Dualities
Western philosophers often split the self into
mind and body,

or
spirit and flesh, or
reason and desire
The dual elements

are complementary but also conflicting
Reconciling and unifying them is the central human task

DualitiesWestern philosophers often split the self into mind and body, or spirit and flesh, or reason and

Слайд 21Creativity
The distinction between male and female provides a model for

this kind of duality
The union of male and female

brings about creation
So, too, is the union of dual elements a fundamentally creative process

CreativityThe distinction between male and female provides a model for this kind of duality The union of

Слайд 22Creativity
Human beings are thus essentially creative
Our central obligation is

to create
We create things
We create a personality through our actions

Together we create a social order
In each case, we must reconcile and unite conflicting elements, synthesizing them into an organic whole

CreativityHuman beings are thus essentially creative Our central obligation is to createWe create thingsWe create a personality

Слайд 23Freedom
Our creative essence rests on our freedom
The conflicting forces

we must unite do not control or determine us
We

are self-determining; we are free to reconcile conflicting elements as we please, creating, in the process, our own distinctive personalities and lives

FreedomOur creative essence rests on our freedom The conflicting forces we must unite do not control or

Слайд 24Freedom
Our creative essence also rests on our choosing among possibilities

Possibilities, potentialities, are thus central to who we are
Finally,

our creative essence implies that we are also essentially agents
We make choices and act, changing the world and ourselves as we do

FreedomOur creative essence also rests on our choosing among possibilities Possibilities, potentialities, are thus central to who

Слайд 25“A Thing that Acts”
Descartes writes, “What am I? A thing

that thinks.”
For the Akan, it would be more accurate to

say, “What am I? A thing that acts.”
I am a thing that confronts and realizes possibilities, makes choices, reconciles conflicts, and creates things, including myself

“A Thing that Acts”Descartes writes, “What am I? A thing that thinks.”For the Akan, it would be

Слайд 26“A Thing that Acts”

Слайд 27Personal Identity
Philosophers of mind ask not only
“What am I?”

and
“What makes me human?” but also
“What makes me

me?”
What makes me the person I am?

Personal IdentityPhilosophers of mind ask not only “What am I?” and “What makes me human?” but also

Слайд 28Personal Identity
Am I really the same person I was as

a baby or a small child?
Will I be the

same person when I am old?
If so, what explains that?
What makes me the same person throughout the entire course of my life?

Personal IdentityAm I really the same person I was as a baby or a small child? Will

Слайд 29Mind/Body/Identity
These questions are closely related
If I am essentially mind

or consciousness, I will tend to look to mind or

consciousness to explain my continuing identity
If I am essentially a physical being, I will tend to look for physical explanations of my continuity
Conversely, if I can explain my identity in certain terms, that will suggest that my essence can be understood in those same terms

Mind/Body/IdentityThese questions are closely related If I am essentially mind or consciousness, I will tend to look

Слайд 30Divided Self
The Yoruba, like many west African tribes, divide the

self into three components:
the body,
the mind (or soul,

or consciousness), and
the ori, the “inner head” or personality

Divided SelfThe Yoruba, like many west African tribes, divide the self into three components: the body, the

Слайд 31Thought Experiments
If Jones’s brain (or mind) is transplanted into Smith’s

body, is the resulting person Smith or Jones?

Thought ExperimentsIf Jones’s brain (or mind) is transplanted into Smith’s body, is the resulting person Smith or

Слайд 32Thought Experiments
Jones?
Smith?
The Yoruba want to know how the resulting

being acts
Does it act like Jones or like Smith?

The Yoruba see this as a question about ori. Does this person have Smith’s ori or Jones’s?

Thought ExperimentsJones? Smith?The Yoruba want to know how the resulting being acts Does it act like Jones

Слайд 33Personality
I am a being consisting of body and mind and

personality
What is essential to my identity is my ori, my

personality
That is what makes me me
Anything that radically changed my personality would disrupt my identity, even if it did not disrupt body or consciousness