Jochen, You put me in a terrible conflict. On the one hand, you are one of three people who has ever read that paper, so I want to thank you .... in fact, I want to bound into your lap like a large St. Bernard puppy and lick your face ... so filled with gratitude am I . For most of us, academic writing is a lonely trade.
On the other hand, I dont' THINK the paper says that. Now, on my understanding of mind, you are at least as good a judge of my intentions as I am, and so I feel a rush of uncertainty as I say, "I never intended to be ... never have been?... a causal mentalist. On my account, mind states describe behavior, they dont explain it and they certainly dont cause it. I will reread the paper and see what I said. But whatever the outcome of my rereading, thank you so very much for your reading. All the best, Nick Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, Clark University (nthomp...@clarku.edu) http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > [Original Message] > From: Jochen Fromm <jfr...@t-online.de> > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com> > Date: 6/14/2009 6:56:41 PM > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The ghost in the machine (was 'quick question') > > Your paper "Intentionality is the Mark of the Vital" > seems to fit better. It argues that it is unnecessary to > reconcile the mental with the material if we consider the > mental as intentional, and gives the example > > A did D because A desired (wanted, believed..) [x] > > For example I can move my arm because I want it. > I want it means I have the intention to it. It is the > intention which causes a kind of downward causation > to low-level behaviors (from the prefrontal cortex to > the premotor areas and the primary motor cortex). > As the article says, intentional explanations may be > the best way to describe the elusive nature of > "mental" operations in a biological system. > > -J. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Nicholas Thompson" <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> > To: <friam@redfish.com> > Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 7:24 PM > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The ghost in the machine (was 'quick question') > > > > Take care. If you every were so idle and demented as to want to read > > something I have written on the subject, you might try: > > > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/id36.html > > > > Nick > > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
