文章基本信息

标题：Questioning Searle’s Explanation of Unconscious Mental State
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作者：Yuhua Zhou ; Pengzhi Hu
期刊名称：Open Access Library Journal
印刷版ISSN：2333-9705
电子版ISSN：2333-9721
出版年度：2021
卷号：8
期号：7
页码：1-9
DOI：10.4236/oalib.1107581
语种：English
出版社：Scientific Research Pub
摘要：Upholding the principle of Biological Naturalism, John Searle requires that explanation of mental phenomenon must be coherent with findings in scientific studies. To meet the requirement of coherence, Searle puts forward his “connection principle”. This paper contends that his requirement is not well met in his own study of unconscious mental states. Firstly, his classification of unconscious mental states is not reasonable. For example, he has classified “knowledge of language” into deep unconscious mental state, which in nature belongs to nonconscious mental state. The classification is not in accord with findings in linguistic studies, nor with linguistic practice. Secondly, his explanation for the unconscious mental process is doubtful. Based on his “connection principle”, unconscious mental state is nothing but potential conscious mental state and therefore the processing of unconscious mental activity should resemble that of conscious mental activity. But this explanation is not coherent with findings in cognitive science. The paper concludes that Searle fails in his requirement of coherence.
关键词：Unconscious Mental StateConnection PrincipleBiological NaturalismCoherence