Identity Theory

1. Identity Theory Austin Gaddie Austin Drysh

2. Historical Background • E. G. Boring (1886-1968)- First proposed the Identity Theory through his book The Physical Dimensions of Consciousness. • Although introduced in the beginning of the 20th century, it did not become popular until the mid 1900’s. • Three slightly different versions of the identity theory however they all proclaim that mental states are purely physical. • U. T Place- 1956 • Feigl- 1957 • J.J.C Smart- 1959

3. Introduction to the Identity Theory. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qsWlScST0 • 0:40 – 1:36

4. Major Tenets Mental states (sensations) are brain states. Refutes the argument of Qualia (certain nonphysical aspects of physical things) that evoke nonphysical responses. • According to Feigl and Smart: • Sensations and brain processes are explanations of two different things, however they are actually reducible to the same physical thing. • “Morning Star” and “Evening Star” are two separate descriptions of the same thing: Venus.

5. Major Tenets • According to U.T Place: • Mental states are made up of physical processes and are therefore reducible to the physical realm. • Example: “Lightning” and “electrical discharge” are not the same linguistically because we observe them through different perceptions. Lightning= physical. Electrical discharge= scientific research. However they are identical because one makes up the other.

6. Consciousness • What are the components or meaning of consciousness? • Consciousness is a process in the brain • It is inherently false to relate this statement to our own personal descriptions of both mental processes and brain processes, for they differ greatly. • Examples: (a) you can describe your mental sensations without knowing anything about brain function (b) statements regarding brain processes and consciousness are verified in entirely different ways (c) someone can feel pain yet nothing is happening in their brain

7. Consciousness • However, the statement is not necessarily false because these two different descriptions represent the same process. • Comparable to the statement ‘lightning is a motion of electrical charges.’ Both describe the same occurrence, but in varied terms.

8. Consciousness • Counter: Any expression that is logically independent of another expression that uniquely characterizes an object must normally not be a characteristic of that object. • Example: “Her hat is made of straw” rather than “Red is a color” • U.T. Place argues that exceptions in this rule exist in cases in which each expression can only be proven at a separate time from the other. Example: “A cloud is a mass of water droplets or other particles in suspension.”

9. Mind Body Connection • What links the physical body and mental states? • Type Identity Theory: • Different TYPES are associated with different mental states. • These TYPES are then directly correlated with different neuropsychological reactions and occurrences within the brain. • Mental state of pain = Physical firings of C-Fibers in the brain.

10. Mind Body Connection • What links the physical body and mental states? • Token Identity Theory: • Differs from that of Type Physicalism in that it refers to specific mental instances (exact moments of joy, pain, sorrow like stubbing your toe) being identified as an instance of a mental state and a certain physical state (C- Fiber expulsions). • Instead of the actual mental state of pain being a neuropsychological reaction, individual instances of pain are brain processes.

11. Mind Body Connection • Objection: Red is a color based upon our physical perception, which is defined by lower frequency of electromagnetic radiation. Say someone has a red scar and they plunge 70ft underneath the surface of the water, the red scar would appear to be a bluish green color due to the lack of electromagnetic radiation. • Can we really trust what we perceive? If our bodies are composed strictly of material things, how can one base their reality upon something bound to change?

12. Mind Body Connection • If sensations are brain processes and the essence of human nature is based upon the equality of mental states and brain processes: • Our physical perception of physical stimuli (color) would be in a constant state of flux. • How would we be able to trust our sensations (those that govern our self being) if they are constantly changing. • If brain processes and mental states are equal, then the whole essence of our existence is constantly changing.

13. Essence of Human Nature • Hobbes’ Conservative Theory of Human Nature • Human beings act out of perceived self-interest • Hobbes gave money too a beggar and stated that the reason for this action was because he was distressed at seeing the beggar distressed, and therefore had to relieve his won distress

14. Essence of Human Nature • Equality of ability to harm and desire to achieve one’s goals leads to the instability of human nature • The only reliable expectation of each human is that he or she will follow their own inclinations and interests • Concludes that this anarchy resultant from human nature is in no one’s best interest, and therefore government is established to restrict the actions of everyone.

15. Identity of Human Nature • What is the identity of human nature? • Human identity= Because human nature is reduced entirely to the physical realm, perception of physical stimuli cannot contain supernatural aspects. • Qualia: subjective secondary qualities evoked from certain conscious experiences. • Frank Jackson: What Mary Didn’t Know.

16. Identity of Human Nature • Counter: Identity Theorists and all branches of physicalism have a hard time answering the question proposed by Frank Jackson. • Whether or not a women released into the world after having learned everything physical would experience secondary reactions not able to be learned outside of sensation (Qualia). – i.e. red makes you happy • Utilizing this argument, other branches of philosophical beliefs proclaim the existence of Qualia, the immaterial essence that connects sensations and brain processes. • Philosophers negate the identity theory by asking how human identity can be defined without evaluating the mental responses men have to stimuli in their environment?

17. Identity of Human Nature • Responds by saying that these certain secondary emotions based upon mental events are not real physical things in the brain - Smart. • Explain Qualia by saying that it is topic neutral. • Smart described Qualia in reference to “the average electrician.” • The identity of human nature is purely reducible to physical properties.

18. What do you perceive when you look at a strawberry?

19. Freewill? • What does it mean to be free of predetermined? • Hobbes’ Conservative Theory of Human Nature • Earth is made up of only bodies in motion • Since there are only bodies in motion, free will is illogical

20. Freewill? • Hobbes called the human perception of free will the “last appetite of deliberation” • Our body of hopes, desires, fears, and aversions pursued until completed or thought impossible to complete is called our deliberation • Adhering to or omitting and action is what gives us the perception of free will

21. Purpose of Life • What gives meaning and purpose to life? • Life’s purpose is strictly physical bound. • Humans do not extract immaterial responses to stimuli and therefore do not experience supernatural aspects of life.

22. Purpose of Life • Cause and effect: • Because of our dependence upon our sensations (no supernatural source to knowledge) our purpose of life is to respond physically to the environment. • Individualistic: • The individual decides his or her own purpose for existence in the physical world.

23. Quotes This quote is U.T. Place’s original assertion in his paper that found the philosophical school of the identity theory. Realizing that the belief that mental events exist separately and cannot be defined in terms regarding the physical, or dualism, is no longer widely accepted, Place formulates his own ideas of the mental aspect of physicalism. His conclusion, demonstrated in his paper Is Consciousness a Brain Process? , is that what we perceive as mental events are in actuality the same as physical states. • “’Consciousness is a process in the brain’, on my view is neither self-contradictory nor self-evident; it is a reasonable scientific hypothesis, in the way that the statement ‘lightning is the motion of electric charges’ is a reasonable scientific hypothesis.”

24. Quotes Being a major proponent of metaphysical philosophy in his era, Hobbes stresses the ideal of cause and effect. Because of the increase in scientific advancements in his era, Hobbes described the mind body connection in a way specifically associating the mind body problem in a metaphysical way. Having beliefs that heavily contribute to the Identity Theory, he advocates that scientific philosophy is the evaluation of cause and effect and therefore, sets the basis for what the Identity theory stands upon. He is stating that what we perceive relies upon the general perception of various objects, and therefore portrays the interdependence of physical perception with knowledge. • “Science is the knowledge of consequences, and dependence of one fact upon another.” -Thomas Hobbes

25. Inquiry Question • If the identity of a human is based upon the strictly physical mind body connection (BC’s = MS’s) and therefore sensations (brain processes) of environmental stimuli, is human existence concrete?

26. Inquiry Question • Can a particular conscious experience be described in terms of brain function? Specifically, can the sensation of pain be accurately described by the corresponding physical reactions of the brain? Or is there an additional understanding missing?

27. Works Cited Armstrong, David. “The Nature of Mind” EBSCO. N.p. 1980. Web, 20 Dec. 2012. "Book Reviews." Rev. of The Mind in Nature. International Journal of Philosophical Studies Vol 17. 623-25  Print. Dempsey, Liam P. "Conscious Experience, Reduction and Identity: Many Explanatory Gaps, One Solution." Philosophical Psychology 17.3 (2004): 225-45. EBSCO. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Mumford, Steven. Rev. of Dispositions: a Debate, D.M. Armstrong, C.B. Martin, and U.T. Place. The Philosophical Quarterly 1998: 548-550. Print. J.J.C. Smart. “Sensations and Brain Processes” EBSCO. N.p., 1962. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. Place, U.T. "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" EBSCO. N.p., 30 Nov. 1954. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. Pojman, Louis P. Who Are We?: Theories of Human Nature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print. Polger, Thomas. "Are Sensations Still Brain Processes?" Rev. of Sensations and Brain Processes. Print. Sher, George. "Armstrong and the Interdependence of the Mental." Rev. of A Materialist Theory of the Mind. 227-35. Print.