Different Theories Associates With Having Mental States

The following essay explores varying theories associates with having mental states. According to a Philosophy professor at Simon Fraser University, Dr. Mac, mental states are beliefs or desires or more precisely, states of mind. In this essay, we examine behaviourism and type identity theory, the views held by doctor one and two respectively. In accordance to me, doctor one’s ideology is more acceptable because behaviourism not only provides a solution to the dualism problem but also provides a clear meaning as to what mental states are and the role they play in our day to day lives. The argument is supported by the fact that behaviourism is a scientifically accepted theory, it allows for psychologists to carry out their research and it†¦show more content†¦A ‘categorical mistake’ is â€Å"an error in logic in which one category of something thing is presented as belonging to another category† (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry). Behaviou rism is one of the first theories which comes close to counting the close unity between the mind and the body. It takes into account that if a person thinks or believes something, then he is likely to behave that way. The person lacking the human brain acts/behaves normally, this indicates that he must think or believe something. Thus, he has mental states. Behaviourism also aligns with clinical research by psychologists. Many psychologists like B.F Skinner use the bases of behaviourism and the mind-body problem to clinically find solutions to depression and understand its cause and relations with behaviours that an individual with depression displays. One of the major concerns occurring in Behaviourism is the fact that there is no common behaviour to all cases. This means that if one person, who feels pain flinches, does not mean that another person feeling pain will flinch too. Thus, it is hard to tell if the person who lacks the brain will display the same behaviour as we do. An other problem that behaviourism does not account for is the lack of feelings for a mental state. It eliminates the feelings and experience of having a mental state. This means that we do not know how the experience of a person