Analyzing Armstrong’s “The Nature of Mind”
In David M. Armstrong’s “The Nature of Mind”, Armstrong praises the field of science and seeks to put the concept of mind into terms that agree with science’s definition of minds. His interest is in the physico-chemical, materialist view of man. Armstrong considers science to be the authority over other disciplines because of its reliability and result in consensus over disputed questions.
Armstrong’s main argument is as follows:
P1: Mental states are the inner causes of behavior
P2: The inner causes of behavior are brain states
C: Mental states are brain states.
This argument, in the transitivity of conditionals form, is valid. In order to defend the soundness of it, Armstrong breaks his essay into three main parts: arguing for P1, arguing for P2, and replying to a posed objection.
Armstrong’s P2 is based off of scientific belief:
p1: It is rational to believe what scientists agree upon
p2: Scientists......
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