What is Philosophy of Mind? Definition, history and applications

We explain the key points to understand this facet of the study of the mind-body link.

Philosophy of Mind is one of the forms that the problem of the mind-body relationship has taken.. In other words, it is one of the areas of study of philosophy that deals with the study of the relationship between mental processes and the body (the brain in particular), and therefore, the link between mind and behavior.

Under this area are grouped a set of works that add different proposals to the question of what is the mind, which has led them to reflect also on the relationship between mental processes and the processes that occur within the brain.

Origins and object of study of the Philosophy of Mind

The concepts studied by the Philosophy of Mind have been essential for modern philosophy and have many of their antecedents in classical philosophy, however, it is from the second half of the twentieth century when they have gained a fundamental importance, especially since the rise of cognitive sciences and computational sciences.

As early as the first half of the twentieth century, the Philosophy of Mind appeared as a specialized branch within philosophy itself, whose content was especially around "the mental" (perception, intentions, representations). At that time "the mind" was already a fairly widespread and naturalized concept, even in the language of everyday life.

To give an example, it is thanks to this extension that many practices could be legitimized and developed, ranging from the development of research, theories and cognitive therapies, to the development of alternative practices that used the concept of "mind" and its contents, to also develop theories and ways of intervening on this mind.

But it happened that, in the mid-twentieth century, the problem of studying the Philosophy of Mind became more acute, because cognitive psychology and computer sciences had a parallel boom, especially related to the development of artificial intelligence systems, and also because of advances in neurosciences.

Even some questions about whether animals have minds or not, and whether computers have minds or not, were added to the discussion.. Without losing validity or legitimacy, "the mind" and its processes (perceptions, sensations, desires, intentions, etc.), ceased to be a precise term and became rather a vague concept worth discussing.

Finally, after the 1980s, a period in which neuroscience reached an even greater boom, along with increasingly sophisticated computer systems that promised to mimic the set of neural networks of the human brain, the Philosophy of Mind became an area of study with special relevance. With this, 21st century science begins with a new object of study at its center: the brain.

The mind or the brain?

As we have seen, the discussion about what constitutes us as human beings, and about concepts related to this, such as decision, intentions, reason, responsibility, freedom, will, among others, have been the subject of philosophical discussion for a long time.

From the previous question naturally derive multiple questions, which have to do with the intentional content of our mental states, with beliefs or with desires. In turn, from this follows how such mental states do, or do not, factor into our behavior and actions.

For example, What determines our actions? is one of the key questions for the Philosophy of Mind, and different answers have emerged from it. On the one hand, it may be that actions are caused by the individual intentions of people, which reduces them to being the consequence of a mental state, which also means that there are physical processes that cannot be explained by means of physical or natural laws, which means that these physical processes should be disregarded.

Or, it could be that actions are provoked and determined simply by a set of physical processes, which means that everything that has to do with "the mental" can be explained through physical laws that are not modified by intentions, but by physical-chemical laws such as those suggested by neuroscience.

As we can see, the answers to these questions vary according to the position adopted by each author and each reader, so we can hardly speak of a single answer, but of different versions that may be useful for thinking and acting on some things, and not for others.

From cognitive sciences to neurosciences?

Consequently, the Philosophy of Mind, and more specifically the cognitive sciences, have become a set of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches. In fact, recently the very concept of Philosophy of Mind has begun to transform into that of Neurophilosophy, or Philosophy of Neuroscience, where some of the more traditional concepts of cognitive psychology, such as cognitive processes or consciousness, have begun to be absorbed into its study.

As is to be expected, This has had repercussions not only on the theoretical development of the cognitive and behavioral sciences, but has even influenced discussions related to bioethics.It has even influenced discussions related to bioethics, and without going that far we can see its influence in the current tendency to use the prefix "neuro" to legitimize, and even make marketable, a series of practices ranging from business marketing to psychological crisis interventions.

Bibliographical references:

• Sanguineti, J.J. (2008). Philosophy of Mind. Published in June 2008 in Philosophica, Enciclopedia filosófica online. Retrieved April 25, 2018. Available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/31512350/Voz_Filosofia_Mente.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1524651624&Signature=5x8xwT%2FqnbXAbYm1DBcvokYJqTk%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DFilosofia_de_la_mente._Voz_de_Diccionari.pdf
• Moya, C. (2004). Filosofía de la Mente. PUV: Universitat de Valencia
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (1999). The Philosophy of Neuroscience. Recuperado 25 de abril de 2018. Disponible en https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neuroscience/
• Kim, J. (1996). Philosophy of Mind. Routledge Taylor & Francis: England