The Architecture of the Mind

by Carruthers, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780199207077
• ISBN10: 0199207070
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-30
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

Peter Carruthers, a leading philosopher of mind, provides a comprehensive development and defense of one of the guiding assumptions of evolutionary psychology: that the human mind is composed of a large number of semi-independent modules. Written with unusual clarity and directness, and surveying an extensive range of research in cognitive science, it will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the nature and organization of the mind.

Author Biography

Peter Carruthers is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	x
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xvi
1 The Case for Massively Modular Models of Mind	1	(64)
1. Introduction: On Modularity	1	(6)
2. What Massive Modularity could not be	7	(5)
3. The Argument from Design	12	(17)
4. The Argument from Animals	29	(7)
5. In Defense of Evolutionary Psychology	36	(8)
6. The Argument from Computational Tractability	44	(9)
7. What does Computational Frugality Really Require?	53	(9)
8. Conclusion	62	(3)
2 The Architecture of Animal Minds	65	(85)
1. Invertebrate Psychology	65	(18)
2. Dual Visual Systems in Mammals (and others)	83	(12)
3. Multiple Belief-Generating Modules	95	(15)
4. The Case Against General Learning	110	(3)
5. Multiple Motivational Modules	113	(7)
6. Multiple Memory Systems	120	(11)
7. The Fragmentation of Action-Control	131	(6)
8. Mental Rehearsal and Practical Reason	137	(11)
9. Conclusion	148	(2)
3 Modules of the Human Mind	150	(61)
1. Against the 'One Major New Adaptation' Hypothesis	151	(16)
2. Physics, Biology, Psychology, and Statistics	167	(7)
3. Mind-Reading and Mental Architecture	174	(12)
4. Language in Mind	186	(2)
5. Imitation and Cultural Accumulation	188	(5)
6. Human Motivational Modules	193	(10)
7. Normative Reasoning and Motivation	203	(7)
8. Conclusion	210	(1)
4 Modularity and Flexibility: The First Steps	211	(66)
1. The Challenges	212	(18)
2. Stimulus Independence and Inner Speech	230	(9)
3. Language as Content-Integrator	239	(3)
4. The Reorientation Data	242	(5)
5. Alternative Theories of Content Flexibility	247	(7)
6. Inner Speech and the Flexibility of Reasoning	254	(9)
7. What the Thesis is and Isn't	263	(13)
8. Conclusion	276	(1)
5 Creative Cognition in a Modular Mind	277	(58)
1. Introduction: Constraints on Theorizing	278	(11)
2. The Creative-Action Theory of Creativity	289	(15)
3. Creativity and Inner Speech	304	(8)
4. Autism and the Evolutionary Functions of Pretence	312	(5)
5. A Contrasting Theory of Pretence and Creativity	317	(7)
6. Creativity and Metaphor	324	(3)
7. Scaling up: Creativity in Adulthood	327	(7)
8. Conclusion	334	(1)
6 The Cognitive Basis of Science	335	(49)
1. What does it take to be a Scientist?	336	(5)
2. The Hunter as Scientist	341	(7)
3. The Child as Scientist?	348	(6)
4. System 2 Reasoning and Science	354	(2)
5. Fodor on Abductive Reason	356	(7)
6. The Anatomy of Abduction	363	(11)
7. Two Kinds of System 2 Belief-Formation	374	(8)
8. Conclusion	382	(2)
7 Distinctively Human Practical Reason	384	(30)
1. The Challenges	384	(3)
2. Normative Modules Again	387	(2)
3. Theoretical Reasoning about Desires and Goods	389	(4)
4. Two Kinds of Practical Reasoning and Intention	393	(4)
5. Desires Versus Reasons	397	(9)
6. The Illusion of Conscious Will	406	(7)
7. Conclusion	413	(1)
8 Conclusion to the Volume	414	(4)
References	418	(31)
Index of Names	449	(10)
Index of Subjects	459