Materialism.
Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science May 1, 2012 Andrew Melnyk 3 citations
This review examines the philosophical debate between materialism and dualism about the mind. Materialism, the dominant view in cognitive science, holds that mental states are entirely constituted by physical states, while dualism denies this. Philosophers have refined these positions using concepts like realization and supervenience, distinguishing varieties such as eliminative materialism, substance dualism, and emergentism. They have also clarified how empirical evidence can support materialism. The article presents major objections to materialism, which serve as arguments for dualism, focusing on two features of mental states that materialism struggles to explain: intentionality (the aboutness of mental states) and phenomenal consciousness (the subjective experience of what it is like to be in a mental state).