Emoiricism, rationalism, and behaviorism

1. EMPIRICISM, RATIONALISM,
AND BEHAVIOURISM

2. AIMS
• TO DISCUSS VIEWS OF MENTALIST & BEHAVIOURISM
• TO DISCUSS CHOMSKY’S UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE

3. MENTALISM & BEHAVIOURISM
• MENTALISM ; ONE HAS MIND AND BODY WHICH ARE INTERDEPNDENT
mind
stimuli
world
respons
e

4. • HOWEVER, MIND SOMETIMES ACTS NATURALLY (WITHOUT AFFECTING BY
OTHERS) FREE WILL
• THIS ENABLES ONE TO RECOGNISE NONSENSICAL SENTENCES, EG;
• THE IDEA OF SQUARE IS PURPLE
• HAPPINESS WEIGHS THREE GRAMS

5. • ALL MENTALISTS BELIEVE THAT MIND EXISTS
• MIND INCLUDES IDEAS AND KNOWLEDGE
• HOWEVER, THEY HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON HOW THE IDEAS ARE EMBODIED IN
MIND (NEXT SLIDE)

6. EMPIRICISM VS RATIONALISM

7. RATIONALISM
TRADITIONAL RATIONALIST;
• PLATO (4TH CENTURY BC)
• DESCARTES (1641)
CLAIM : EXPERIENCES EQUIPPED WITH REASONS MANIPULATES INNER/UNDERLYING
KNOWLEDGE TO BECOME APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE

8. MODERN RATIONALISTS
• CHOMSKY (1967)
• BEVER (1970)
CHOMSKY : MIND HAS SOME FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND NEED SOME
RELEVANT EXPERIENCES WITH CERTAIN FACULTIES TO MANIPULATE THE
INNER/UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE TO BECOME APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE

9. • BEVER : IN MIND THERE IS AN INNER/UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES OF
A COMMON COGNITION WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO ALL KIND OF
KNOWLEDGE
• SO, ALL AGREE THAT IN MIND THERE IS CERTAIN UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE

10. EMPIRICISM
• IN CONTRAST, EMPIRICISM CLAIMS THAT NO IDEAS WHICH ARE A KNOWLEDGE
INTERNALISED IN MIND.
• THUS, THEY REFUSE THE UNDERLYING CONCEPT
• EG; PUTNAM (1967); IN MAN’S MIND THERE IS A COMMON INTELLEGENCE
CALLED “ A COMMON MULTIFUNCTIONAL LEARNING STRATEGY”
• DIVIDED INTO TWO; PARTICULARISTS AND UNIVERSALISTS

11. PARTICULARISTS & UNIVERSALISTS
• PARTICULARISTS, JAMES MILL (1829); ‘GENERAL IDEAS ARE ABSTRACT, AS
SUCH THEY DO NOT EXIST”, EG. ‘DOG’ REFERS TO PARTICULAR DOG.
• UNIVERSALISTS, JOHN LOCKE (1690); “APART FROM A PARTICULAR IDEA,
THERE IS ALSO A GENERAL ONE”, EG. ‘DOG’ REFERS TO ALL KIND OF DOGS
• HOWEVER, THIS WAS REFUSED BY PARTICULARIST BY ARGUING THAT IF A DOG
HAS NOSE AND EYES, WOULD ALL FORMS OF NOSE AND THE COLOUR OF EYES
INCLUDE ALL FORMS OF NOSE AND THE COLOUR OF EYES IN THE WORLD?

12. WIIL BE CONTINUED NEXT
WEEK