M.A., Philosophy, University of California, Santa
Barbara
M.S., Education, Purdue University
Email: pauldvanderveen@gmail.com
Copyright ©1999, 2003 Paul Vanderveen
Blog: http://paulvanderveen.wordpress.com/
Formation of the Concept of Mind explores human development from the preschool years, with its active learning about such actions as thinking, remembering, guessing and pretending, to adulthood and explicit knowledge of minds as such. This article is my original presentation of my central thesis. Published in Objectivity, Vol. 1, No. 6 (1993), it draws extensively on theory of mind and related scientific research. It challenges the long-standing and widely held view that one learns to think in terms of one's mind through an inwardly directed cognitive process. Conceptualizing minds instead requires that one cognitively integrate two or more -- that is, one's own and other minds.
The following essays, from the moderated e-mail
discussion list Objectivism-L, constitute my contributions to a dialogue --
my responses to members who have objections to or questions about my thesis
as to how we reach the concept of mind or who propose other theories. My first
post, "Forming the concept of mind," responds to a member's comment
that "we introspectively identify" the mind. The only way to reach
the concept of mind, I reply, is to cognitively integrate two or more units--"self
and others."
1. Forming
the Concept of Mind
2. Basing
the Concept of Mind on Reality
3. Proper
Names and Concepts
4. The
Concept of Mind and Certain Symmetries
5. Concluding
Remarks about Forming the Concept of Mind
6. Recognizing
Minds
7. The Problem
of "Other" Minds
8. Concept
of Mind and Early Development
9. Retaining
the Concept of Mind
10. Ayn Rand
and Other Minds
11. Perceiving
Other Minds Directly?
12. Preconceptually
Apprehending Other Minds?
13. Inferences
about Other Minds
14. The Units of
the Concept of Mind
An edit log
notes all edits of these posts.
"A New Type of Rendition" introduces an idea for a new type of television program, the thematic serial, using Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged as an illustration (posted to the Objectivism-L list, October 19, 1998). This type of programming, building on the nature of conceptualization, would effectively convey how a particular mind functions.
In January 1996, I moved to Senegal, my first experience abroad.
Dakar served for two and a half years as my base for exploring
various locales in Africa and Asia, where I interacted with local
people, observed similarities and differences, tested my impressions
and struggled to maintain a stance respectful of myself and others as
independent equals, no mean feat in lands so different from the
United States in wealth, culture and history.
What is America? A view from outside, written near
the end of this period, summarizes my changed perspective on life in the United
States (posted to the Objectivism-L list, April 24, 1998).
Throughout this period, I chronicled
my experiences which especially contributed to or marked my changed
perspective. Here are the first few months of those
experiences:
Introduction
1. First
Bribe
2. You Decide
3. Acknowledging
Others
4. Passing
Grade
5. Negotiating
Different Cultures
6. How
Do You Say "Help" in Arabic?
7. Risks
in the Developing World
8. Un,
Deux, Trois
9. Hello
But No Cadeau