Posted by Estella on August 2, 2006, at 2:02:50
In reply to Re: er... yeah... sorry... » Estella, posted by Phillipa on August 1, 2006, at 22:51:00
> Ask Bob for philosophy board? Love Phillipa
I don't think there is enough general interest... I guess I found the example to be fairly funny. Not funny in a self harm kind of way. I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't have posted it. It was late and after working for however many hours it struck me as strangely amusing, however.
It is part of a more general worry about mental states that goes like this:
After images (as a mental state) can be yellowy orange
Brain states cannot be yellowy orange (because the brain is black and white and blue and grey)
______________________________________________
After images cannot be brain states (by Leibniz law)BUT: Materialists grant that mental processes are brain processes (and materialism is the most widely accepted position in the philosophy of mind). They need to say something about this...
Probably the best way to go (IMHO) is to say that mental processes aren't literally yellowy orange. Rather they represent yellowy orange. Brain processes aren't literally yellowy orange either. Rather they represent yellowy orange. Like how a graph can represent high pitched sound without being high pitched sound.
So... Pains aren't located. When I say 'I have a pain in my toe' That should be translated into 'I am having an experience (which is a brain process) that represents pain (some kind of bodily damage) in my toe'. But then there are problems with
pain 1 (bodily damage)
pain 2 (the experience that represents bodily damage)does 'pain' normally track pain 1 or pain 2 (it is possible for them to come apart when a leg is anethetised or in cases of phantom limb pain or deferred pain). Seems that 'pain' tracks pain 2 and hence... There aren't any such things as pains in toes. In fact... Pain seems to be something like:
The experience that represents bodily damage which is typically caused by certain kinds of bodily damage.
But then we shouldn't say that pains are in toes.
But... Enough already.
And now for the million dollar question...
How does this relate to emotions?
z
zzz
I miss you
z.
poster:Estella
thread:672547
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060728/msgs/672834.html