Mental event

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For the use of this term in Buddhism, see Mental factors (Buddhism).

A mental event is any event that happens within the mind of a conscious individual. Examples include thoughts, feelings, decisions, dreams, and realizations.[1] These events often make up the conscious life that are associated with cognitive function.[2]

Some believe that mental events are not limited to human thought but can be associated with animals[3] and artificial intelligence[4] as well. Whether mental events are identical to complex physical events, or whether such an identity even makes sense, is central to the mind–body problem.

Relation to mind–body problem

Some state that the mental and the physical are the very same property which cause any event(s). This view is known as

Philosophy of Action states that every action is caused by prior thoughts or feelings, and understanding those mental events would in turn explain behavior.[5]

What Is it Like to Be a Bat?, Thomas Nagel argues that physicalist theories of mind
cannot explain an organism's subjective experience because they cannot account for its mental events.

Epiphenomenalism, according to Stanford, "Is the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effect upon any physical events."[7] This stance then brings up the idea of introspection. According to David Lieberman, introspection is the ability for a person to observe his or her own mental state or events.[8] Mental events can happen consciously and subconsciously at any given point. All mental events take place due to external stimuli. Which then must be processed via working memory.

Mental Events and Working Memory

Mental events must occur in the

central executive.[9]

The phenological loop is responsible for holding speech-based sounds while the visuo-spatial sketchpad holds visual concepts in the mind. Both work independent of each other. Whereas the central executive is responsible for controlling both systems. The central executive is also responsible for aiding in tasks such as reasoning and understanding language.[10]

In order for mental events to occur, in Homo sapiens, situations and events must be processed through working memory in order to be perceived as a mental event. Without this system of memory, situations cannot be stored as mental events. All thoughts, feelings, decisions, dreams, and realizations must cycle through this process indefinitely.

Examples

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Bunnin, Nicholas; Yu, Jiyuan (2004). "Mental event". The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. Blackwell Reference Online. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  2. ^ Mental Events. Oxford Reference. Retrieved 7 Mar. 2023, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100150420
  3. ISBN 9780226308654
    .
  4. S2CID 10544902. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  5. ISBN 9780470996379
    .
  6. ^ Stoljar, Daniel (2016). Zalta, Edward (ed.). "Physicalism". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2016 Edition). Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  7. ^ Robinson, William, "Epiphenomenalism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/epiphenomenalism/
  8. ^ Lieberman, D. A. (2021). Chapter 10 Working Memory. In Learning and Memory (2nd ed., p. 13). Cambridge University Press.
  9. ^ Lieberman, D. A. (2021). Chapter 10 Working Memory. In Learning and Memory (2nd ed., p. 284). Cambridge University Press.
  10. ^ Lieberman, D. A. (2021). Chapter 10 Working Memory. In Learning and Memory (2nd ed., pp. 286–287). Cambridge University Press.
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