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A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:17 am
by Philosophy Explorer
Do you see a difference between the mind and the mind conceiving of itself? I believe there is?
PhilX
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:56 am
by Ginkgo
Philosophy Explorer wrote:Do you see a difference between the mind and the mind conceiving of itself? I believe there is?
PhilX
Depends on what you means by the word "mind".
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 1:48 pm
by hammock
Philosophy Explorer wrote:Do you see a difference between the mind and the mind conceiving of itself? I believe there is?
Some cultures don't even have a single distinct concept of "mind" which is equivalent to that in Western psychology, philosophy. It's more an endemic idea rather than a societal universal.
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 1:55 pm
by thedoc
Philosophy Explorer wrote:Do you see a difference between the mind and the mind conceiving of itself? I believe there is?
PhilX
All animals have a mind, that may be extended to all living things but that would depend on whether you require a brain to have a mind. And I will call a mind and awareness as possibly equivalent, and this is where we may extend the mind to living things that are aware. The phrase "I think, therefore I am", will do for me to illustrate the difference. Animals have gotten to the "I am" phase of this statement but so far as I know only humans have discovered the whole statement. "I think, therefore I am" would indicate a mind that is able to conceive of itself, whereas "I am" would just indicate a mind that is aware of it's environment, but not one that is able to contemplate itself and that environment. I will concede that some animals may have gotten beyond "I am" to some degree of "I think, therefore I am", but so far as I know, humans are the only animals that can articulate and express these ideas.
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:07 pm
by duszek
But what would an animal hiding from a predator think ?
He is trying not to be (in the predator´s consciousness at least).
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:08 pm
by GreatandWiseTrixie
Seems any animal capable of kind acts towards another animal would imply they have some semblance of reason.
Re: A mind difference?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:32 pm
by thedoc
duszek wrote:But what would an animal hiding from a predator think ?
He is trying not to be (in the predator´s consciousness at least).
I would think there would be a single minded consciousness of, and focus on survival, be that of the individual or the offspring.