User:Phlsph7/Mind - Definition

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Definition

The mind is the totality of psychological phenomena and capacities, encompassing

sensation, feeling, mood, motivation, behavior, memory, and learning.[1] The term is sometimes used in a more narrow sense to refer only to higher or more abstract cognitive functions associated with reasoning and awareness.[2] Minds were traditionally conceived as immaterial substances or independent entities and contrasted with matter and body. In the contemporary discourse, they are more commonly seen as features of other entities and are often understood as capacities of material brains.[3] The precise definition of mind is disputed and while it is generally accepted that some non-human animals also have mind, there is no agreement on where exactly the boundary lies.[4] Despite these disputes, there is wide agreement that mind plays a central role in most aspects of human life as the seat of consciousness, emotions, thoughts, and sense of personal identity.[5] Various fields of inquiry study the mind; the main ones include psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy.[6]

The words psyche and mentality are usually used as synonyms of mind.[7] They are often employed in overlapping ways with the terms soul, spirit, cognition, intellect, intelligence, and brain but their meanings are not exactly the same. Some religions understand the soul as an independent entity that constitutes the immaterial essence of human beings, is of divine origin, survives bodily death, and is immortal.[8] The word spirit has various additional meanings not directly associated with mind, such as a vital principle animating living beings or a supernatural being inhabiting objects or places.[9] Cognition encompasses certain types of mental processes in which knowledge is acquired and information processed.[10] The intellect is one mental capacity responsible for thought, reasoning, and understanding[11] and is closely related to intelligence as the ability to acquire, understand, and apply knowledge.[12] The brain is the physical organ responsible for most or all mental functions.[13]

The modern English word mind originates from the Old English word gemynd, meaning "memory". This term gave rise to the Middle English words mind(e), münd(e), and mend(e), resulting in a slow expansion of meaning to also cover other mental capacities. The original meaning is preserved in expressions like call to mind and keep in mind. Cognates include the Old High German gimunt, the Gothic gamunds, the ancient Greek μένος, the Latin mens, and the Sanskrit manas.[14]

Theories of the nature of mind

Theories of the nature of mind aim to determine what all

infallible, for instance, that a person cannot be mistaken about whether they are in pain.[16]

A related view states that all mental states are either conscious or accessible to consciousness. According to this view, when a person actively remembers the fact that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris then this state is mental because it is part of consciousness; when the person does not think about it, this belief is still a mental state because the person could bring it to consciousness by thinking about it. This view denies the existence of a "deep unconsciousness", that is, unconscious mental states that cannot in principle become conscious.[17]

A historically influential theory says that intentionality[a] is the mark of the mental. A state is intentional if it refers to or represents something. For example, if a person perceives a piano or thinks about it then the mental state is intentional because it refers to a piano. This view distinguishes between original and derivative intentionality. Mental states have original intentionality while some non-mental phenomena have derivative intentionality. For instance, the word piano and a picture of a piano are intentional in a derivative sense: they do not directly refer to a piano but if a person looks at them, they may evoke in this person a mental state that refers to a piano. It is controversial whether all mental states are intentional; possible exceptions include itches, tickles, and pain.[19]

According to

Computationalism, a similar theory prominent in cognitive science, defines minds in terms of cognitions and computations as information processors.[22]

Theories under the umbrella of externalism emphasize the mind's dependency on the environment. According to this view, mental states and their contents are at least partially by external circumstances.[23] For example, some forms of content externalism hold that it can depend on external circumstances whether a belief refers to one object or another.[24] The extended mind thesis states that external circumstances not only affect the mind but are part of it, like a diary or a calculator extend the mind's capacity to store and process information.[25] The closely related view of enactivism holds that mental processes involve an interaction between organism and environment.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Intentionality is to be distinguished from intention in the sense of having a plan to perform a certain action.[18]

Sources

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  5. ^ Stich & Warfield 2008, pp. ix–x
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  18. ^ Jacob 2023, § 1. Why is intentionality so-called?
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  24. ^
    • Rowlands, Lau & Deutsch 2020, § 1. Introduction, § 3. Content Externalism
    • Smith, § 1. Hilary Putnam and Natural Kind Externalism
  25. ^
  26. ^
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