How the Mind Works
Encyclopedia
How the Mind Works is a book by Canadian-American
cognitive scientist
Steven Pinker
, published in 1997. The book attempts to explain some of the human mind's poorly understood functions and quirks in evolution
ary terms. Drawing heavily on the paradigm of evolutionary psychology
first articulated by John Tooby
and Leda Cosmides
, Pinker covers subjects as diverse as vision
, emotion
, feminism
, and, in the final chapter, "the meaning of life." He also advocates the computational theory of mind
. He criticizes difference feminism
in his book because he believes scientific research has shown that women and men differ little or not at all in their moral reasoning. This book was a Pulitzer Prize
Finalist.
Fodor
, considered one of the fathers of the Computational Theory of the mind, made hard critiques to it, publishing a book called "The mind doesn't work that way", saying "There is, in short, every reason to suppose that the Computational Theory is part of the truth about cognition. But it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone could suppose that it’s a very large part of the truth; still less that it’s within miles of being the whole story about how the mind works". He went further saying "I was, and remain, perplexed by an attitude of ebullient optimism that’s particularly characteristic of Pinker’s book. As just remarked, I would have thought that the last forty or fifty years have demonstrated pretty clearly that there are aspects of higher mental processes into which the current armamentarium of computational models, theories and experimental techniques offers vanishingly little insight. And I would have thought that all of this is common knowledge in the trade. How, in light of it, could anybody manage to be so relentlessly cheerful? So, it occurred to me to write a book of my own."
Canadian-American
A Canadian American is someone who was born or someone who grew up in Canada then moved to the United States. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in,...
cognitive scientist
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur Pinker is a Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, linguist and popular science author...
, published in 1997. The book attempts to explain some of the human mind's poorly understood functions and quirks in evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary terms. Drawing heavily on the paradigm of evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
first articulated by John Tooby
John Tooby
John Tooby is an American anthropologist, who, together with psychologist wife Leda Cosmides, helped pioneer the field of evolutionary psychology....
and Leda Cosmides
Leda Cosmides
Leda Cosmides, is an American psychologist, who, together with anthropologist husband John Tooby, helped develop the field of evolutionary psychology....
, Pinker covers subjects as diverse as vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
, emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
, feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, and, in the final chapter, "the meaning of life." He also advocates the computational theory of mind
Computational theory of mind
In philosophy, the computational theory of mind is the view that the human mind is an information processing system and that thinking is a form of computing. The theory was proposed in its modern form by Hilary Putnam in 1961 and developed by Jerry Fodor in the 60s and 70s...
. He criticizes difference feminism
Difference feminism
Difference feminism is a philosophy that stresses that men and women are ontologically different versions of the human being. Many Catholics adhere to and have written on the philosophy, though the philosophy is not specifically Catholic....
in his book because he believes scientific research has shown that women and men differ little or not at all in their moral reasoning. This book was a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
Finalist.
Fodor
Jerry Fodor
Jerry Alan Fodor is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. He holds the position of State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and is the author of many works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, in which he has laid the groundwork for the...
, considered one of the fathers of the Computational Theory of the mind, made hard critiques to it, publishing a book called "The mind doesn't work that way", saying "There is, in short, every reason to suppose that the Computational Theory is part of the truth about cognition. But it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone could suppose that it’s a very large part of the truth; still less that it’s within miles of being the whole story about how the mind works". He went further saying "I was, and remain, perplexed by an attitude of ebullient optimism that’s particularly characteristic of Pinker’s book. As just remarked, I would have thought that the last forty or fifty years have demonstrated pretty clearly that there are aspects of higher mental processes into which the current armamentarium of computational models, theories and experimental techniques offers vanishingly little insight. And I would have thought that all of this is common knowledge in the trade. How, in light of it, could anybody manage to be so relentlessly cheerful? So, it occurred to me to write a book of my own."
External links
- Pinker's website on How the Mind Works
- Video of a 1999 lecture based on the book
- Ten page review by William J. RapaportWilliam J. Rapaport-Academics:Rapaport has done research and written extensively on Intentionality and Artificial Intelligence. He has research interests in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence , Computational Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Logic and Mathematics, and published many scientific articles on...
(pdf version) - "The Trouble with Psychological Darwinism" by Jerry FodorJerry FodorJerry Alan Fodor is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. He holds the position of State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and is the author of many works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, in which he has laid the groundwork for the...
, a critical review of How the Mind Works - "The mind doesn't work that way", abstract of a book by Jerry FodorJerry FodorJerry Alan Fodor is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. He holds the position of State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and is the author of many works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, in which he has laid the groundwork for the...
in response to How the Mind Works