Smart's Essay 'Sensations And Brain Processes'

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In J.J.C. Smart’s essay, Sensations and Brain Processes, he disagrees with dualism as he believes that states of consciousness and brain processes are similar. He presents a case where he reports that he sees a round and yellowish-orange after-image. He describes various perspectives about what he is actually reporting. He claims that he could not be reporting anything, and that this after-image is only the result of him having a temptation to say that he sees it. Another example involves an individual reporting pain, and, like the after-image example, he or she could not be reporting anything as well. In regards to both the reporting of the after-image and pain, Smart disagrees with the claim that these reports are “irreducibly psychical,” (Rosen 372) which means they cannot be reduced to mental properties. …show more content…

He claims that science has been used extensively to describe almost every property of the world. Science has led to the description of the world as a compilation of “increasingly complex arrangements of physical constituents” (Rosen 372). However, an aspect that is not included in science’s complex explanation of the world is states of consciousness, like sensations and pains. In regards to identity, Smart believes that sensations and brain processes just so happen to be the same. Referring to sensations and brain processes as identical factors would indicate that one is suggesting that the identity is strict. An example of strict identity is Smart’s use of a metaphor that compares lightning with an electrical discharge, just as sensations equate to brain processes. Smith belief contradicts dualism, which is a concept that refers to the mind and body as two distinct

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