Mental Actions

Mental Actions

Author: Lucy O'Brien

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2009-06-11

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 019160772X

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This volume investigates the neglected topic of mental action, and shows its importance for the metaphysics, epistemology, and phenomenology of mind. Twelve specially written essays address such questions as the following: Which phenomena should we count as mental actions — imagining, remembering, judging, for instance? How should we explain our knowledge of our mental actions, and what light does that throw on self-knowledge in general? What contributions do mental actions make to our consciousness? What is the relationship between the voluntary and the active, in the mental sphere? What are the similarities and differences between mental and physical action, and what can we learn about each from the other?


Book Synopsis Mental Actions by : Lucy O'Brien

Download or read book Mental Actions written by Lucy O'Brien and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-06-11 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume investigates the neglected topic of mental action, and shows its importance for the metaphysics, epistemology, and phenomenology of mind. Twelve specially written essays address such questions as the following: Which phenomena should we count as mental actions — imagining, remembering, judging, for instance? How should we explain our knowledge of our mental actions, and what light does that throw on self-knowledge in general? What contributions do mental actions make to our consciousness? What is the relationship between the voluntary and the active, in the mental sphere? What are the similarities and differences between mental and physical action, and what can we learn about each from the other?


Mental Action and the Conscious Mind

Mental Action and the Conscious Mind

Author: Michael Brent

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-07-15

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 042966351X

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Mental action deserves a place among foundational topics in action theory and philosophy of mind. Recent accounts of human agency tend to overlook the role of conscious mental action in our daily lives, while contemporary accounts of the conscious mind often ignore the role of mental action and agency in shaping consciousness. This collection aims to establish the centrality of mental action for discussions of agency and mind. The thirteen original essays provide a wide-ranging vision of the various and nuanced philosophical issues at stake. Among the questions explored by the contributors are: Which aspects of our conscious mental lives are agential? Can mental action be reduced to and explained in terms of non-agential mental states, processes, or events? Must mental action be included among the ontological categories required for understanding and explaining the conscious mind more generally? Does mental action have implications for related topics, such as attention, self-knowledge, self-control, or the mind-body problem? By investigating the nature, scope, and explanation of mental action, the essays presented here aim to demonstrate the significance of conscious mental action for discussions of agency and mind. Mental Action and the Conscious Mind will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and philosophy of agency, as well as to philosophically inclined cognitive scientists.


Book Synopsis Mental Action and the Conscious Mind by : Michael Brent

Download or read book Mental Action and the Conscious Mind written by Michael Brent and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-15 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mental action deserves a place among foundational topics in action theory and philosophy of mind. Recent accounts of human agency tend to overlook the role of conscious mental action in our daily lives, while contemporary accounts of the conscious mind often ignore the role of mental action and agency in shaping consciousness. This collection aims to establish the centrality of mental action for discussions of agency and mind. The thirteen original essays provide a wide-ranging vision of the various and nuanced philosophical issues at stake. Among the questions explored by the contributors are: Which aspects of our conscious mental lives are agential? Can mental action be reduced to and explained in terms of non-agential mental states, processes, or events? Must mental action be included among the ontological categories required for understanding and explaining the conscious mind more generally? Does mental action have implications for related topics, such as attention, self-knowledge, self-control, or the mind-body problem? By investigating the nature, scope, and explanation of mental action, the essays presented here aim to demonstrate the significance of conscious mental action for discussions of agency and mind. Mental Action and the Conscious Mind will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and philosophy of agency, as well as to philosophically inclined cognitive scientists.


Action and Responsibility

Action and Responsibility

Author: Andrew Sneddon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-01-27

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1402039824

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This book is an exploration of what it takes for an event to count as an action. I first became interested in this topic nearly a decade ago while working on a different topic. I kept coming across philosophers making claims about the nature of action that seemed false or at least dubious to me. As a consequence I turned to the philosophy of action directly, to get to the heart of the matter. I have wrestled with this territory ever since. I hope that, with this book, I have finally earned the intuitions that put me at odds with the philosophers I was originally reading. This book develops ideas in Part Two of my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I loved being at Queen’s, for both professional and personal reasons. My thanks go to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for financial support as a doctoral candidate. Steve Leighton and Ronald de Sousa were readers for my dissertation. They provided some early and invaluable challenges to the ideas developed here. My deepest debt of gratitude is owed to David Bakhurst, my supervisor. I learned a lot from David; this book would not be the same without his help.


Book Synopsis Action and Responsibility by : Andrew Sneddon

Download or read book Action and Responsibility written by Andrew Sneddon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-01-27 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an exploration of what it takes for an event to count as an action. I first became interested in this topic nearly a decade ago while working on a different topic. I kept coming across philosophers making claims about the nature of action that seemed false or at least dubious to me. As a consequence I turned to the philosophy of action directly, to get to the heart of the matter. I have wrestled with this territory ever since. I hope that, with this book, I have finally earned the intuitions that put me at odds with the philosophers I was originally reading. This book develops ideas in Part Two of my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I loved being at Queen’s, for both professional and personal reasons. My thanks go to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for financial support as a doctoral candidate. Steve Leighton and Ronald de Sousa were readers for my dissertation. They provided some early and invaluable challenges to the ideas developed here. My deepest debt of gratitude is owed to David Bakhurst, my supervisor. I learned a lot from David; this book would not be the same without his help.


The Russian Theory of Activity

The Russian Theory of Activity

Author: Gregory Bedny

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2014-02-25

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 1317779983

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The opening of the former Soviet Union to the West has provided an opportunity to describe Russian human factors/ergonomics and to compare American theories and methods with it. Although this book is principally dedicated to describing the theory of activity as it applies to issues of design and training, it is also offered to a general audience of psychologists and interested lay readers. This theory studies the goal-directed behavior of man and attempts to integrate the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects of activity into a holistic system. Such fundamental notions as goal, action, and self-regulation are described and analyzed from totally different theoretical points of view. This is the first comprehensive, systematic description of the theory of activity in the English language. Existing attempts to translate the theory of activity into English suffer from certain limitations. Among them, the theory of activity -- considered one of the more important accomplishments of Soviet psychological science -- has an extensive history dating back to the work of Vygotsky and his students. Subsequent development of the theory by other well-known Soviet psychologists and psychophysiologists took place within different schools with some significant differences. In the former Soviet Union, psychological theory could not be advanced unconnected to Marxist-Leninist ideology. Accordingly, theoretical formulations were subject to their own version of "political correctness." Books published in this field were addressed only to other scientists with backgrounds in the field. Moreover, the translation of the technical terms in Russian psychology frequently resist translation in the absence of the context of the debates in which they were being used. Thus, simple translation of books in this field as they were written in a specialized and politicized environment for Russian audiences is really not a particularly sensible or worthwhile undertaking. This book is addressed in the first instance to Western psychologists. It compares, among other things, analyses of work from the former Soviet Union with the work from the West. Applications of activity theory to design and learning were paramount in the Soviet Union. Using their own theoretical perspective, the authors provide a comparative analysis of the various schools working in activity theory. They hope that this book may facilitate the exchange of ideas between Russian psychological scientists and Western psychologists working in ergonomics, human factors, industrial/organizational psychology, education, learning, and related areas where the theory of activity may find general application. This book's authors attempt to provide a contribution not only to science but also to history. Western researchers have strongly influenced Russian work, but because of negative political pressure in the former USSR, the flow of concepts was one-sided. Russian ergonomists received so much from American and Western sources that it is now important to give something back. Despite the considerable similarity between Russian and American theories and methods, the special "spin" the former put on their work may stimulate new thinking on the part of their American colleagues.


Book Synopsis The Russian Theory of Activity by : Gregory Bedny

Download or read book The Russian Theory of Activity written by Gregory Bedny and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The opening of the former Soviet Union to the West has provided an opportunity to describe Russian human factors/ergonomics and to compare American theories and methods with it. Although this book is principally dedicated to describing the theory of activity as it applies to issues of design and training, it is also offered to a general audience of psychologists and interested lay readers. This theory studies the goal-directed behavior of man and attempts to integrate the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects of activity into a holistic system. Such fundamental notions as goal, action, and self-regulation are described and analyzed from totally different theoretical points of view. This is the first comprehensive, systematic description of the theory of activity in the English language. Existing attempts to translate the theory of activity into English suffer from certain limitations. Among them, the theory of activity -- considered one of the more important accomplishments of Soviet psychological science -- has an extensive history dating back to the work of Vygotsky and his students. Subsequent development of the theory by other well-known Soviet psychologists and psychophysiologists took place within different schools with some significant differences. In the former Soviet Union, psychological theory could not be advanced unconnected to Marxist-Leninist ideology. Accordingly, theoretical formulations were subject to their own version of "political correctness." Books published in this field were addressed only to other scientists with backgrounds in the field. Moreover, the translation of the technical terms in Russian psychology frequently resist translation in the absence of the context of the debates in which they were being used. Thus, simple translation of books in this field as they were written in a specialized and politicized environment for Russian audiences is really not a particularly sensible or worthwhile undertaking. This book is addressed in the first instance to Western psychologists. It compares, among other things, analyses of work from the former Soviet Union with the work from the West. Applications of activity theory to design and learning were paramount in the Soviet Union. Using their own theoretical perspective, the authors provide a comparative analysis of the various schools working in activity theory. They hope that this book may facilitate the exchange of ideas between Russian psychological scientists and Western psychologists working in ergonomics, human factors, industrial/organizational psychology, education, learning, and related areas where the theory of activity may find general application. This book's authors attempt to provide a contribution not only to science but also to history. Western researchers have strongly influenced Russian work, but because of negative political pressure in the former USSR, the flow of concepts was one-sided. Russian ergonomists received so much from American and Western sources that it is now important to give something back. Despite the considerable similarity between Russian and American theories and methods, the special "spin" the former put on their work may stimulate new thinking on the part of their American colleagues.


Numeracy for All Learners

Numeracy for All Learners

Author: Pamela D. Tabor

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2020-09-30

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1529752256

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Numeracy for All Learners is a wide-ranging overview of how Math Recovery® theory, pedagogy, and tools can be applied meaningfully to special education to support learners with a wide range of educational needs. It builds on the first six books in the Math Recovery series and presents knowledge, resources, and examples for teachers working with students with special needs from Pre-K through secondary school. Key topics include: dyscalculia, what contemporary neuroscience tells us about mathematical learning, and differentiating assessment and instruction effectively to meet the needs of all students in an equitable framework.


Book Synopsis Numeracy for All Learners by : Pamela D. Tabor

Download or read book Numeracy for All Learners written by Pamela D. Tabor and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Numeracy for All Learners is a wide-ranging overview of how Math Recovery® theory, pedagogy, and tools can be applied meaningfully to special education to support learners with a wide range of educational needs. It builds on the first six books in the Math Recovery series and presents knowledge, resources, and examples for teachers working with students with special needs from Pre-K through secondary school. Key topics include: dyscalculia, what contemporary neuroscience tells us about mathematical learning, and differentiating assessment and instruction effectively to meet the needs of all students in an equitable framework.


Experienced Wholeness

Experienced Wholeness

Author: Wanja Wiese

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-01-05

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0262036991

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An interdisciplinary account of phenomenal unity, investigating how experiential wholes can be characterized and how such characterizations can be analyzed computationally. How can we account for phenomenal unity? That is, how can we characterize and explain our experience of objects and groups of objects, bodily experiences, successions of events, and the attentional structure of consciousness as wholes? In this book, Wanja Wiese develops an interdisciplinary account of phenomenal unity, investigating how experiential wholes can be characterized and how such characterization can be analyzed conceptually as well as computationally. Wiese first addresses how the unity of consciousness can be characterized phenomenologically, discussing what it is like to experience wholes and what is the experiential contribution of phenomenal unity. Considering the associated conceptual and empirical issues, he draws connections to phenomenological accounts and research on Gestalt theory. The results show how the attentional structure of experience, the experience of temporal flow, and different types of experiential wholes contribute to our sense of phenomenal unity. Moreover, characterizing phenomenal unity in terms of the existence of a single global phenomenal state is neither necessary nor sufficient to adequately address the problem of phenomenal unity. Wiese then suggests that the concepts and ideas of predictive processing can be used to analyze phenomenal unity computationally. The result is both a conceptual framework and an interdisciplinary account: the regularity account of phenomenal unity. According to this account, experienced wholes correspond to a hierarchy of connecting regularities. The brain tracks these regularities by hierarchical prediction error minimization, which approximates hierarchical Bayesian inference.


Book Synopsis Experienced Wholeness by : Wanja Wiese

Download or read book Experienced Wholeness written by Wanja Wiese and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-01-05 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An interdisciplinary account of phenomenal unity, investigating how experiential wholes can be characterized and how such characterizations can be analyzed computationally. How can we account for phenomenal unity? That is, how can we characterize and explain our experience of objects and groups of objects, bodily experiences, successions of events, and the attentional structure of consciousness as wholes? In this book, Wanja Wiese develops an interdisciplinary account of phenomenal unity, investigating how experiential wholes can be characterized and how such characterization can be analyzed conceptually as well as computationally. Wiese first addresses how the unity of consciousness can be characterized phenomenologically, discussing what it is like to experience wholes and what is the experiential contribution of phenomenal unity. Considering the associated conceptual and empirical issues, he draws connections to phenomenological accounts and research on Gestalt theory. The results show how the attentional structure of experience, the experience of temporal flow, and different types of experiential wholes contribute to our sense of phenomenal unity. Moreover, characterizing phenomenal unity in terms of the existence of a single global phenomenal state is neither necessary nor sufficient to adequately address the problem of phenomenal unity. Wiese then suggests that the concepts and ideas of predictive processing can be used to analyze phenomenal unity computationally. The result is both a conceptual framework and an interdisciplinary account: the regularity account of phenomenal unity. According to this account, experienced wholes correspond to a hierarchy of connecting regularities. The brain tracks these regularities by hierarchical prediction error minimization, which approximates hierarchical Bayesian inference.


Psychology in the Soviet Union

Psychology in the Soviet Union

Author: Brian Simon

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0415178142

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First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


Book Synopsis Psychology in the Soviet Union by : Brian Simon

Download or read book Psychology in the Soviet Union written by Brian Simon and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 1998 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


Psychology in the Soviet Union Ils 272

Psychology in the Soviet Union Ils 272

Author: Brian Simon

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-09-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1134684282

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This is a collection of papers created from a visit by teachers and educationalists to the U.S.S.R in April 1955 by invitation of Academy of Educational Sciences of the R.S.F.S.R. The aim of this volume is to familiarize English readers with the general direction of Soviet psychology, but designed to be of interest to teachers as well as psychologists.


Book Synopsis Psychology in the Soviet Union Ils 272 by : Brian Simon

Download or read book Psychology in the Soviet Union Ils 272 written by Brian Simon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a collection of papers created from a visit by teachers and educationalists to the U.S.S.R in April 1955 by invitation of Academy of Educational Sciences of the R.S.F.S.R. The aim of this volume is to familiarize English readers with the general direction of Soviet psychology, but designed to be of interest to teachers as well as psychologists.


The Self and Self-Knowledge

The Self and Self-Knowledge

Author: Annalisa Coliva

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-04-19

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0199590656

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Investigates philosophical issues to do with the self and self-knowledge. It focuses on two main problems: how to account for I-thoughts and the consequences that doing so would have for our notion of the self; and how to explain subjects' ability to know the kind of psychological states they enjoy.


Book Synopsis The Self and Self-Knowledge by : Annalisa Coliva

Download or read book The Self and Self-Knowledge written by Annalisa Coliva and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigates philosophical issues to do with the self and self-knowledge. It focuses on two main problems: how to account for I-thoughts and the consequences that doing so would have for our notion of the self; and how to explain subjects' ability to know the kind of psychological states they enjoy.


Between Perception and Action

Between Perception and Action

Author: Bence Nanay

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-11-28

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0191502154

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What mediates between sensory input and motor output? This is probably the most basic question one can ask about the mind. There is stimulation on your retina, something happens in your skull and then you hand reaches out to grab the apple in front of you. What is it that happens in between? What representations make it possible for you to grab this apple? Bence Nanay calls these representations that make it possible for you to grab the apple 'pragmatic representations'. In Between Perception and Action he argues that pragmatic representations whose function is to mediate between sensory input and motor output play an immensely important role in our mental life. And they help us to explain why the vast majority of what goes on in our mind is very similar to the simple mental processes of animals. The human mind, like the mind of non-human animals, has been selected for allowing us to perform actions successfully. And the vast majority of our actions, like the actions of non-human animals, could not be performed without perceptual guidance. And what provides the perceptual guidance for performing actions are pragmatic representations. If we accept this framework, many classic questions in philosophy of perception and of action will look very different. The aim of this book is to trace the various consequences of this way of thinking about the mind in a number of branches of philosophy as well as in psychology and cognitive science.


Book Synopsis Between Perception and Action by : Bence Nanay

Download or read book Between Perception and Action written by Bence Nanay and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-11-28 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What mediates between sensory input and motor output? This is probably the most basic question one can ask about the mind. There is stimulation on your retina, something happens in your skull and then you hand reaches out to grab the apple in front of you. What is it that happens in between? What representations make it possible for you to grab this apple? Bence Nanay calls these representations that make it possible for you to grab the apple 'pragmatic representations'. In Between Perception and Action he argues that pragmatic representations whose function is to mediate between sensory input and motor output play an immensely important role in our mental life. And they help us to explain why the vast majority of what goes on in our mind is very similar to the simple mental processes of animals. The human mind, like the mind of non-human animals, has been selected for allowing us to perform actions successfully. And the vast majority of our actions, like the actions of non-human animals, could not be performed without perceptual guidance. And what provides the perceptual guidance for performing actions are pragmatic representations. If we accept this framework, many classic questions in philosophy of perception and of action will look very different. The aim of this book is to trace the various consequences of this way of thinking about the mind in a number of branches of philosophy as well as in psychology and cognitive science.