Toward a new agenda for the philosophy of mind

Herbert Otto

James Tuedio

pp. 371-376

in: Herbert Otto, James Tuedio (eds), Perspectives on mind, Berlin, Springer, 1988

Abstract

Several of the authors in this volume have concentrated on the problem of how to gain insight into the complexities of cognitive processing. Some favor a descriptive analysis of the workings of the mind, emphasizing the necessity of operating from the standpoint of a first person ontology. Others argue for an explanatory analysis of mental function operating from a third person ontology. The former stress the importance of studying "semantic content" thought to be intrinsic to complex "meaning networks" (horizons, schemas, backgrounds, prescriptions, glossaries, and the like). The latter focus on syntax with the aim of formulating such syntax as a computational system capable of replicating the input/output relations which characterize the "inner workings" of a mind.