Minds, materials and metaphors
Toon, A
Date: 23 December 2020
Article
Journal
Philosophy
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP) / Royal Institute of Philosophy
Publisher DOI
Abstract
What is the relationship between mental states and items of material culture, like
notebooks, maps or lists? The extended mind thesis (ExM) offers an influential and
controversial answer to this question. According to ExM, items of material culture can
form part of the material basis for our mental states. Although ExM offers a ...
What is the relationship between mental states and items of material culture, like
notebooks, maps or lists? The extended mind thesis (ExM) offers an influential and
controversial answer to this question. According to ExM, items of material culture can
form part of the material basis for our mental states. Although ExM offers a radical view
of the location of mental states, it fits comfortably with a traditional, representationalist
account of the nature of those states. I argue that proponents of ExM would do better to
adopt a fictionalist approach to mental states. In so doing, I suggest, they could retain the
important insights underlying the extended mind thesis, while avoiding its more
problematic consequences.
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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