Philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind is the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness.

What is involved in each type of cognitive process?

We can also ask questions about the different specific cognitive processes, and of course we might ask what cognitive processes in general are supposed to be. In that case, we'd be asking what distinguishes a cognitive process from any other kind of process. That is another way of putting the mind-body problem. We can also ask a series of more specialized questions, about each individual cognitive process. We can get the answers through cognitive science.

Related Topics:
Cognitive process - Cognitive science

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Take perception as an example. Philosophers ask what is going on when we perceive something -- when we see, hear, taste, touch, and so on. But philosophers are not interested in the particular mechanisms that allow us to see -- for example, they do not study the shape of the eye or how the optical nerve carries information to the brain. They are interested in even more basic questions. They ask: Do we perceive physical objects directly with our senses, or do we form mental images of some sort, which we use to represent physical objects and their properties? These are questions raised by the philosophy of perception. The philosophy of perception is all about how our minds come in contact with the world outside our minds.

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Another example is the will, or volition. When we choose to do something we are using our wills, or engaging in volition. There is, of course, one special and very difficult question that philosophers ask about this process, namely, is the will free? If Mary decides to walk across the room, that seems to be entirely up to her; she could have chosen otherwise. But if the universe is determined, and especially if our will really is after all just a physical process, then it certainly does seem as though Mary didn't have control over everything that led up to her deciding to walk across the room. So was she free or wasn't she?

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See also Free will and determinism.

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