bleh

[putis]

Originally Posted by dead jim's profile

Occupation:
i'm a grad student at tulane university, and i teach intro. to philosophy and phil. of mind

I'm more into psychology, but meh, philosophy is interesting as well.

[dead jim]

Originally Posted by putis616

I'm more into psychology, but meh, philosophy is interesting as well.

well, what i really do is philosophy of mind, especially philosophy of cognitive neuroscience. i'm all about psychology.

[putis]

Originally Posted by dead jim

well, what i really do is philosophy of mind, especially philosophy of cognitive neuroscience. i'm all about psychology.

Cool, I'll probably be going into the cognitive branch of psychology, but I'd like to shy away form the physical aspect of it, and deal more with the strictly psychological issues.

[dead jim]

Originally Posted by putis616

Cool, I'll probably be going into the cognitive branch of psychology, but I'd like to shy away form the physical aspect of it, and deal more with the strictly psychological issues.

what makes you think that the psychological is distinct from the physical?

[putis]

Originally Posted by dead jim

what makes you think that the psychological is distinct from the physical?

I'm not going to be lured into that discussion, but in short, it's not that either one is more important, I just don't really have an interest in the physical aspect of it, let alone having to go to school for a few extra years.

[dead jim]

Originally Posted by putis616

I'm not going to be lured into that discussion, but in short, it's not that either one is more important, I just don't really have an interest in the physical aspect of it, let alone having to go to school for a few extra years.

i wasn't trying to lure you into anything. i was just curious what you're reasoning was for distinguishing between some physical aspect and some non-physical aspect in psychology. not that there aren't lots of people who suggest that the mental is distinct from the physical, that mental states are distinct from brain states, but, as far as i can tell, it isn't a very popular view in the field of psychology itself. after all, it makes little sense to talk about being able to alter psychological states with drugs or alterations in brain composition if the mental states are actually distinct from the brain. i mean, if mental states aren't identical to brain states, why would i treat the mental by changing the physical?

[putis]

Originally Posted by dead jim

i wasn't trying to lure you into anything. i was just curious what you're reasoning was for distinguishing between some physical aspect and some non-physical aspect in psychology. not that there aren't lots of people who suggest that the mental is distinct from the physical, that mental states are distinct from brain states, but, as far as i can tell, it isn't a very popular view in the field of psychology itself. after all, it makes little sense to talk about being able to alter psychological states with drugs or alterations in brain composition if the mental states are actually distinct from the brain. i mean, if mental states aren't identical to brain states, why would i treat the mental by changing the physical?

Obviously I'd have to deal a great deal with the physical aspect, I completely agree that both are equally important, I'm just much more interested in the psychological perspective, especially when it comes to cognition.

However, there are several disorders that are only psychological, and some that are only physiological.

[dead jim]

Originally Posted by putis616

Obviously I'd have to deal a great deal with the physical aspect, I completely agree that both are equally important, I'm just much more interested in the psychological perspective, especially when it comes to cognition.

However, there are several disorders that are only psychological, and some that are only physiological.

i guess i'd be interested to learn about some psychological disorder that doesn't happen in the brain. more than that, i'd be interested in hearing about how it is that we know that the mental disorder is not instantiated in the brain, how we know that it is somehow disconnected from the physical.

[putis]

Not that it's disconnected from the physical, but that it's causes and/or most effective treatments aren't based on physical issues, but psychological ones.

I never said that any disorders happen outside of the brain, that'd be silly.

[dead jim]

i guess i'm just more tempted to say that all psychological issues are brain issues. just because some treatment doesn't involve something like prescriptions doesn't mean that the treatment isn't physical. for example, if you're involved in something like talk therapy, it seems that at every point along the way what's going on is physical. now, the description we use might not make explicit reference to the physical, but i suspect that has more to do with a poverty of our language and understanding of what's going on in our wetware than such a description actually being better.

oh, and as silly as it might sound, there are plenty of people out there who suggest that mental events and brain events are completely distinct and in no way identical.

[putis]

Originally Posted by dead jim

i guess i'm just more tempted to say that all psychological issues are brain issues. just because some treatment doesn't involve something like prescriptions doesn't mean that the treatment isn't physical. for example, if you're involved in something like talk therapy, it seems that at every point along the way what's going on is physical. now, the description we use might not make explicit reference to the physical, but i suspect that has more to do with a poverty of our language and understanding of what's going on in our wetware than such a description actually being better.

I guess if you look at it that way, than yes, everything is very much related to the physical side of things.

Originally Posted by dead jim

oh, and as silly as it might sound, there are plenty of people out there who suggest that mental events and brain events are completely distinct and in no way identical.

I definitely know that..