Re: Drugs, evolution and the brain

[phl3csg@leeds.ac.uk]

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Hello!

Apologies in advanced if people feel that I may be crossing the threshold
between philosophy of mind and mysticism on this one.

I completely agree with Nick's argument concerning evolution altering the actual
manner in which cognition/consciousness/awareness (depending on definitions)
has altered on account of evolution, whereas the potential to revert back to
previous states is still present.  I not entirely sure whether the recent
theories would be a threat to this as such (or at, least the theories that I am
acquainted with).

Lewis advocates a physicality reductionist approach arguing that
supervening between the external world and mental faculties is
reductionism.  (Lewis, David. 1994. "Reduction of Mind," especially the
section on Content. In Samuel Guttenplan (Ed.), A Companion to Philosophy of
Mind, Oxford: Blackwell. Reprinted in David Lewis, 1999, Papers in Metaphysics
and Epistemology, pp. 291-324. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.)  I
reckon that this would be compatible with your thesis.

This view, and others following it, I imagine were a result of the Twin-Earth
Putnam problemo, concerned with correspondence between mental contents and truth
functionality with the world.

I don't know whether this leads off the path too much, but I remember reading
some Sartre somewhere (I think in The Psychology of the Imagination) where he
discusses his experimenting with Mescaline and how it corresponds with his
pre-refective consciousness (going against the Container theory of mind).

I strongly agree with the idea that the human mind 'filters' things out (cf.
Huxley's 'Doors of Perception').  And I think that this happens while asleep
(how insane do you get when you stay up for a few days?).  This certainly to me
points to our Representative mental process being dependent on somehow
affecting our objective perception of the world to a degree that we
subjectivise things (although, that does sound very vacillatory, a la Kant).
Or maybe not...

... The only other thing I can say is that I have experimented with
hallucinogenics and can say that it does alter awareness (either for good or
bad)... amongst other things...

Hope this helps,

Giff



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