New Books in Philosophy

Adam Toon, "Mind As Metaphor: A Defence of Mental Fictionalism" (Oxford UP, 2023)

Sep 12, 2023

Adam Toon, a philosopher arguing against folk psychology, challenges the standard view of mental representation, arguing that our concept of mind is a fiction. He discusses the concept of mind as a metaphor, explores the connection between computationalism and representationism, and examines the relationship between metaphor and mental fictionalism. The podcast also delves into the history, philosophy, and science, as well as the metaphorical representations of the mind and patterns of behavior.

01:00:56

Episode guests

Adam Toon

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Quick takeaways

The concept of mind is a metaphorical projection of an imagined inner world that houses thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions.

The view of mental fictionalism suggests that rather than having literal mental representations, we pick out complex patterns of behavior to make sense of other people's thoughts and intentions.

Folk psychology, the attribution of contentful mental states to others, is considered indispensable for understanding and explaining human behavior.

Deep dives

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Introduction

3min

Journey into History, Philosophy, and Science

7min

The Mind as a Metaphor

15min

Mind as Metaphor: Enriching Language and Analyzing Behavior

2min

Cloud Gaming on a Chromebook and the View of Mental Phenomena as Patterns of Behavior

2min

The Relationship Between Views on Real Patterns

12min

Metaphor and Mental Fictionalism

19min

Folk psychology (on a standard reading) is the way we attribute contentful mental states to others in order to explain and predict their behavior – for example, saying that John thinks the plant needs water as an inner mental state that explains why he is looking for the watering can.

In Mind As Metaphor: A Defence of Mental Fictionalism (Oxford UP, 2023), Adam Toon argues that this view is incorrect: we do not have mental representations. Instead, while our concept of mind is of an inner world, this inner world is a fiction. What we are really doing is picking out complex patterns of behavior and projecting this inward; intentionality resides in public language, not in the mind. Toon, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Exeter, also distinguishes his view from Ryle’s and Dennett’s positions, and argues that while the ascriptions should not be taken literally, their purpose is serious and our practice of ascribing them is indispensable.

Carrie Figdor is professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa.

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New Books in Philosophy

Adam Toon, "Mind As Metaphor: A Defence of Mental Fictionalism" (Oxford UP, 2023)

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Stoicism as a Virtue Ethics Framework

The Fictional Inner World of the Mind

Mental Representations as Patterns of Behavior

The Indispensability of Folk Psychology

The Relationship Between Language and Mind

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts