Shifting Understandings of the Mind
Emma-Louise Silva
September 21, 2023 DOI: 10.1163/9789004681163_003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that recent 4E approaches in philosophy of mind, which treat mind as interlinked with body and world, undermine internalist conceptions of mind and therefore require a reassessment of the 'inward turn' in modernist mind depiction, especially in Joyce's oeuvre. |
Abstract
The second chapter starts with a discussion of René Descartes’ dualist legacy, followed by an overview of twentieth-century reactions to Cartesian dualism, such as behaviourism, identity theory, functionalism, fictionalism, and computationalism. This section then shifts to the more recent 4E approaches in the field of philosophy of mind, which view the mind as interlinked with body and world, a vantage point that is opposed to internalist understandings of the mind. By establishing these shifting understandings of the mind, the need for a reassessment of the ‘inward turn’ in reflections on modernist mind depiction becomes apparent: considerations of the mind as an interior space are no longer valid, especially when it comes to Joyce’s oeuvre.