> > Dear all, > The next USyd philosophy postgraduate colloquium will be held on Monday > May 26 @ 2pm in the Muniment room (Quadrangle building, University of > Sydney). All very welcome!! > > Talk details: > > > *John Duns Scotus on Mind Expanding Substances (Xavier Symons)* > > > > In this paper I will argue that the extended mind thesis (EMT), expounded > by Clarke and Chalmers (2008, 1998), is also found in the writings of John > Duns Scotus (1308). Scotus asserted that a thing’s physical location ‘in’ the > head was irrelevant to it’s being part of the mind. I will begin with a > discussion of Scotus’s theory of intuitive cognition, the notion that we > intellectually intuit the existence and presence of objects in the world > around us. According to Scotus, the objects of such cognitions play direct > causal roles in the process. Following this I will discuss Scotus’s > criteria for something being ‘in’ the mind. He argued that something is > ‘in’ the mind if it bears a direct causal relation to the ‘passive > intellect’ (the ‘*knowing*’ part of the mind). It is not necessary for > something to actually ‘inhere’ in the mind; it is sufficient for it to have > this causal relation. Insofar as this is true objects that directly cause > cognition are ‘in’ the mind, despite not inhering in it. To this extent, > the idea that mind is ‘in the skin’ (as Clarke and Chalmers put it) breaks > down. I conclude my paper with the suggestion that we can profit from > Scotus’s heavily ‘metaphysical’ treatment of the EMT. > > > >> >
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