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Philosophy Assignment

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research



Graduate Course 2002-03
Introduction to Cognitive Science I : Antecedents



Assignment 1 : Philosophy (due on 20 Sept. '02)

I. Read about the following doctrines in the philosophy of mind. Summarise the central tenet(s) of each doctrine in fewer than five sentences each. Represent the doctrines in the form of a tree or any other diagram.

Dualism
Metaphysical dualism
Methodological dualism
Materialism
Eliminative materialism
Reductive materialism
Behaviourism
Methodological behaviourism
Radical behaviourism
Logical behaviourism
Central-state identity theory
Methodological central-statism
Logical central-statism

II. Incorporate the following terms in your diagram in I.

Type identity, Token identity, Functionalism

Suggested sources:

1. Encyclopedia Britannica

2. Fodor, Jerry A. (1981) The Mind-Body Problem. Scientific American 244(1), 124-132.

(Fodor's explanations are lucid and entertaining but his terms ``Type physicalism'' and ``Token physicalism'' seem abstruse so I have borrowed the more common usage, ``Type identity'' and ``Token identity''.)

3. Stillings, N. A. et.al. (1987) Philosophy: The Foundations of Cognitive Science (Chapter 8) in Cognitive Science: An Introduction. MIT Press, Cambridge.





Jayashree Ramadas
28 August, '02


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Next: Philosophy Tutorial Up: Philosophy Previous: Functionalism (pre-view)   Contents