Xref: utzoo talk.philosophy.misc:1854 comp.ai:3123 sci.bio:1766 sci.psychology:1368
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!xanth!nic.MR.NET!indri!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!litow
From: litow@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Bruce E Litow)
Newsgroups: talk.philosophy.misc,comp.ai,sci.bio,sci.psychology
Subject: Re: Artificial Intelligence and Intelligence (long)
Summary: Use of the putative argument: ``X by its very nature...''
Message-ID: <445@csd4.milw.wisc.edu>
Date: 18 Jan 89 13:40:08 GMT
References: <564@soleil.UUCP> <1995@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU> <906@ubu.warwick.UUCP>
Sender: news@csd4.milw.wisc.edu
Reply-To: litow@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Bruce E Litow)
Followup-To: articles on reductionsim in mind studies
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Lines: 24

Recently some postings have appeared in which the type of argument (so-called)
indicated in the summary has been invoked to maintain that reductionist 
methods cannot succeed in mind studies. I cannot accept that we can use
the construction: `the mind by its very nature ...' when we haven't
a clue as to what that `very nature' might be. In arguments based on
this construction one is always forced at some point into actually
accepting that there is a mind in toto which escapes whatever approach
is being argued against. That is the mind is an entity. 
(Following Rilke perhaps the ``Angels'' see it entire)
Once this is admitted
,then mind study is on par with physics which also faces a unity (the
universe) about which all our understanding has come from reductionist methods.
An interesting extended attempt in support of the claim 
that mind studies cannot proceed via reduction is given in Fodor's ``Modularity
of Mind''. However,Fodor only makes the case for cognition being beyond
our present reductions and nothing more. 

I believe that there is tremendous confusion in mind studies between e.g.
general,metaphysical speculation about mind and reductions such as 
neurophysiology,molecular physiology,linguistic inquiries,etc. The first is
limited because it only rarely can provide testable hypotheses. It is
unscientific. Its utility comes from inspiring people to examine
things but it is useless for carrying out research about mind. We have nothing
else but reduction when it comes to science.