私が擁護してきているこの理論のために言うべき最も重要なことは、この理論が(精神と物質との関係についての)神秘(性(を取除くということである。神秘(性)は常に人を悩ますものであり、それは通常,明噺な分析が欠如しているせいである。精神と物質との関係は、人々を長い間悩ませてきたが、もし私が正しければ、精神と物質(との関係)は,人間を悩ませる必要はもはやないのである。(終) |
Fifth: a piece of matter is a group of events connected by causal laws, namely, the causal laws of physics. A mind is a group of events connected by causal laws, namely, the causal laws of psychology. An event is not rendered either mental or material by any intrinsic quality, but only by its causal relations. It is perfectly possible for an event to have both the causal relations characteristic of physics and those characteristic of psychology. In that case, the event is both mental and material at once. There is no more difficulty about this than there is about a man being at once a baker and a father. Since we know nothing about the intrinsic quality of physical events except when these are mental events that we directly experience, we cannot say either that the physical world outside our heads is different from the mental world or that it is not. The supposed problem of the relations of mind and matter arises only through mistakenly treating both as "things" and not as groups of events. With the theory that I have been suggesting, the whole problem vanishes. In favor of the theory that I have been advocating, the most important thing to be said is that it removes a mystery. Mystery is always annoying, and is usually due to lack of clear analysis. The relations of mind and matter have puzzled people for a long time, but if I am right they need puzzle people no longer. |