‘A vehicle of symbols and nothing more’. George Romanes, theory of mind, information, and Samuel Butler

Bibliographic Data

ID19444769
AuthorsDonald R Forsdyke (0000-0002-4844-1417, Queen's University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume26
Issue3
Pages270-287
Publication date2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0957-154X • E-ISSN: 1740-2360
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0957154x14562755
PMID26254127
OpenAlexW1899518302
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

Today’s ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) concept is rooted in the distinction of nineteenth-century philosopher William Clifford between ‘objects’ that can be directly perceived and ‘ejects’, such as the mind of another person, which are inferred from one’s subjective knowledge of one’s own mind. George Romanes, a founder with Charles Darwin of the discipline of comparative psychology, considered the minds of animals as ejects, an idea that could be generalized to ‘society as eject’ and, ultimately, ‘the world as an eject’ – mind in the universe. Yet, Romanes and Clifford only vaguely connected mind with the abstraction we call ‘information’, which needs ‘a vehicle of symbols’ – a material transporting medium. However, Samuel Butler was able to address, in informational terms depleted of theological trappings, both organic evolution and mind in the universe. This view harmonizes with insights arising from modern DNA research, the relative immortality of ‘selfish’ genes, and some startling recent developments in brain research

Art · Art history · Cognition · Epistemology · Literature · Nothing · Psychoanalysis · Theory of mind · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · History · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Philosophy · Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub