An Objection to the Dispositional Conception of Unconscious Mental Phenomena

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2018v22n3p507

Abstract

This paper attacks the dispositional theory of unconscious mental phenomena. First, I assess different aspects of consciousness as a property of mental states (section 2). After that, I discuss the description of phenomena in partially dispositional terms (section 3). The assessment of some real cases of our psychological functioning shows that there are at least some unconscious states which have an occurrent mental existence, not a dispositional one (section 4). So, the dispositional theory cannot save the Cartesian view (section 5).

Author Biography

Tárik de Athayde Prata, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, BRAZIL

Graduado em Psicologia e Mestre em Filosofia Contemporânea pela Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC). Doutor em Filosofia pela Ruprecht-Karl Universität Heidelberg (Alemanha). Professor Associado do Departamento de Filosofia da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). Desenvolve pesquisas nas áreas de Filosofia da Mente e Filosofia da Psicologia.

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Published

2018-12-28

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Vol. 22 No. 3 (2018)

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