From "Mind" to "Supermind": A Statement of Aurobindonian Approach
ABSTRACT: In contrast to Western theories of mind, Aurobindo’s theory is comprehensive and holistic. This theory derives from his ontology. With respect to mind, Aurobindo contends that evolution will not stop with homo sapien. Rather, he posits higher levels of consciousness: Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, Intuitive Mind, Overmind, and Supermind. Higher Mind is an intermediary between the Truth-light above and the human mind. Illumined Mind is Spiritual light. Intuitive Mind possesses swift revelatory vision and luminous insight. Overmind acts as an intermediary between Supermind and Intuitive Mind. Supermind contains the self-determining truths of Divine Consciousness; it is the Real-Idea inherent in all cosmic force and existence.
The various concepts and theories of mind prevalent today have had their origin and development in the West. They can be classified as : Psycho-analytical (cf., Sigmund Freud, Karl Jung, A. Adler), Behavioural (cf., Gilbert Ryle), Gestalt (cf., Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler), Physiological (cf., J. J. C. Smart, U. T. Place, Feigl), Psycho-physical (cf., Karl Popper), Evolutionary (cf., Henry Bergson, Samuel Alexander, Whitehead), Functional (cf., R. Rorty, Peter Smith, O. R. Jones), and Mental or Homo Sapiens-oriented (cf., Roger Penrose). The outcome of all such discussions is that "mind" is mysterious and beyond all scientific explanation. According to the main contemporary view, in particular, `there is something essential in human understanding that is not possible to simulate by any computational means’. This indicates that the nature of mind continues to remain a source of acute discomfort to the Western thinkers. Even their new empirical findings regarding the highly complex mental acitivity is dubious. The object of this paper is to submit that in this context of the West’s indecisiveness and perplexity, Aurobindo’s approach to mind comes as a breath of fresh air.
Aurobindo’s theory of mind is as much "inclusive" of the essence of the Western schools of thinkers cited above, as it is "contrastive". The pioneers in this area from William James and McDougall through Freud, Jung and Adler etc, established the paradigm of the "iceberg" with reference to the nature of mind. This can be designated as the "infra-structural" theory of the entity. The views of the "evolutionists" (Darwin, Laplace, Bergson, S. Alexander, Whitehead, for instance,) are "different" but not "enriching". All of them fail to recognise that any infra-structure can, and must have, logically speaking, a "supra-structure" as well, in order to be complete and holistic.
In Act I Scene I, Egeus, father of Hermia, is clearly upset with his daughter’s choice in Lysander as a suitor. Egeus’ has so much love for Demetrius that he has chosen him to be Hermia’s husband in an arranged marriage. Egeus’ desire to have Hermia marry Demetrius is so strong that he would rather Hermia be dead than marry another. Egeus implores upon Theseus, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her, which shall be either to this
Explain the way in which Smart argues that brain-processes are identical to mental sensations with respect to what he says about topic-neutral sensation language.
Throughout history, women are often included as a side note to occurrences of their ages, most often seen as small and unimportant among patriarchs. Despite this shortcoming in historical documentations, some events do look more closely through the eyes of women. The French Revolution of the eighteenth century is one of these events. This investigation will be exploring the French Revolution, and asking: to what extent did women make an impact? In Thomas Streissguth’s book, Women of the French Revolution, he highlights several women of France, while also analyzing their contribution to the course of the revolution. With his book as a major source, the investigation will explore the topics of women’s riots and salons, individual women, and women as a whole.
Are minds physical things, or are they nonmaterial? If your beliefs and desires are caused by physical events outside of yourself, how can it be true that you act the way you do of your own free will? Are people genuinely moved by the welfare of others, or is all behavior, in reality, selfish? (Sober 203). These are questions relevant to philosophy of the mind and discussed through a variety of arguments. Two of the most important arguments with this discussion are Cartesian dualism and logical behaviorism, both of which argue the philosophy of the mind in two completely different ways. Robert Lane, a professor at the University of West Georgia, define the two as follows: Cartesian dualism is the theory that the mind and body are two totally different things, capable of existing separately, and logical behaviorism is the theory that our talk about beliefs, desires, and pains is not talk about ghostly or physical inner episodes, but instead about actual and potential patterns of behavior. Understanding of the two arguments is essential to interpret the decision making process; although dualism and behaviorism are prominent arguments for the philosophy of the mind, both have their strengths and weaknesses.
...higher order theory provides an encouraging investigation of the many connections consciousness has with other mental phenomena.
Functionalism is a materialist stance in the philosophy of mind that argues that mental states are purely functional, and thus categorized by their input and output associations and causes, rather than by the physical makeup that constitutes its parts. In this manner, functionalism argues that as long as something operates as a conscious entity, then it is conscious. Block describes functionalism, discusses its inherent dilemmas, and then discusses a more scientifically-driven counter solution called psychofunctionalism and its failings as well. Although Block’s assertions are cogent and well-presented, the psychofunctionalist is able to provide counterarguments to support his viewpoint against Block’s criticisms. I shall argue that though both concepts are not without issue, functionalism appears to satisfy a more acceptable description that philosophers can admit over psychofunctionalism’s chauvinistic disposition that attempts to limit consciousness only to the human race.
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are a lot of various sorts of love by using different situation in different diverse circumstances. However, we’re going to pick three types of love in this essay Parental Love, False love, and True love. Parental love is shown when Egeus want his daughter to marry a man she does not love. False love is shown when Theseus and Hippolyta are going to get married because he won her in a battle. True love shown when Hermia and Lysander relationship, they runned off despite her father wishes. love is uncertain but, the fact that you never know where it might end up is the mystery. Much the same as in the play who knew whether Hermia and Lysander will end up together, or Helena and Demetrius yet love
Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius: “Stand forth, Demetrius. -My noble lord,- this man hath my consent to marry her,” (1.1.25-26.9). However, Hermia is deeply in love with Lysander: “Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes and interchanged love tokens with my child,” (1.1.29-30.9). Hermia betrays her father by refusing to marry Demetrius because she is loyal to Lysander. Theseus’ threat to Hermia to either “die the death, or to abjure forever the society of men,” (1.1.9.67-68.11) does not phase her feelings. To be able to be together, Hermia and Lysander are willing to run away and leave behind their friends and family: “There gentle Hermia, may I marry thee; and to that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us,” (1.1.163-164.17). While in the forest, Lysander wants to sleep beside Hermia, but she expresses her discomfort with this. Lysander accepts her wishes and does not pressure her into anything: “O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence!” (2.2.51.57). This is a sign of real love, that he is patient with her and does not force her to do something she is not ready for. In the climax, Lysander is placed under the magic potion and falls in love with Helena: “And yours of Helena to me bequeath, whom I do love and will do till my death,” (3.2.169-170.93). Hermia becomes upset and jealous that Lysander has left her: “What love could press Lysander from my side?” (3.2.189.95). The only reason
One could say it is the transference of a person mental anguish into physical issues. Individuals with somatization disorder may complain about their symptoms in a very dramatic way, yet describe the symptoms in very vague or unclear terms. They may also visit more than one doctor for diagnosis and treatment for the same symptoms, have test results that do not confirm any medical illness to explain their symptoms. A person with somatization disorder is not intentionally producing or pretending to experience these physical complaints. You should have at least one reference in this
Speculations on the origin of the mind have ranged from ghosts to society. Each new theory brings about more speculation and disagreement than the last. Where the mind resides, where it came from and if the brain has any involvement with the concept are common questions that fuel theory paradigms. Those questions are also the foundation of the debate about the roll of experience versus the existence of innate capacities. Steven Pinker theorizes the mind as a computing system created by the brain to fill the gap between innate capacities and capacities missing using common sense and learned critical thinking skills.
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
While the great philosophical distinction between mind and body in western thought can be traced to the Greeks, it is to the influential work of René Descartes, French mathematician, philosopher, and physiologist, that we owe the first systematic account of the mind/body relationship. As the 19th century progressed, the problem of the relationship of mind to brain became ever more pressing.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind In Society:the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press.
But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human life, such as human dignity and personal identity. The mind-body problem entails two theories, dualism and physicalism. Dualism contends that distinct mental and physical realms exist, and they both must be taken into account. Its counterpart (weak) physicalism views the human as being completely bodily and physical, encompassing no non-physical, or spiritual, substances.
...have struggled with the nature of human beings, especially with the concept of “self”. What Plato called “soul, Descartes named the “mind”, while Hume used the term “self”. This self, often visible during hardships, is what one can be certain of, whose existence is undoubtable. Descartes’s “I think, therefore I am” concept of transcendental self with just the conscious mind is too simplistic to capture the whole of one’s self. Similarly, the empirical self’s idea of brain in charge of one’s self also shows a narrow perspective. Hume’s bundle theory seeks to provide the distinction by claiming that a self is merely a habitual way of discussing certain perceptions. Although the idea of self is well established, philosophical insight still sees that there is no clear presentation of essential self and thus fails to prove that the true, essential self really exists.