tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post4604809659992698425..comments2022-12-30T06:04:18.077-07:00Comments on Drifting Consciousness: On Ryle's Knowledge-How and Knowledge-ThatRoger Aboudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06949990546500858907noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-87637061582225601402009-04-03T03:06:00.000-06:002009-04-03T03:06:00.000-06:00Ryle's use of words like awareness and knowledge a...Ryle's use of words like awareness and knowledge always irritates me because in "Concept of Mind" he has already dismissed mind. For Ryle, if there is mind at all, it is largely states of the world outside the body. As you note this puts him in a tricky position if he wants to discuss propositional knowledge.<BR/><BR/>We could get into an analysis of how, given Ryle's constraints, his ideas of types of knowledge are reasonable or unreasonable but his constraints are entirely unreasonable in the first place. In Concept of Mind he manacles himself into a crudely behaviourist position by focusing on various types of regress argument. What I pointed out in my comment above is that these arguments are unsustainable if the conscious mind is passive. A passive conscious mind does not produce active thoughts or process knowledge. It might be involved in some sort of intuition or "becoming" but its passivity would preclude knowledge-that and knowledge-how as products or output of mind, they would instead be products of processing in non-conscious parts of the organism.<BR/>Like Berkeley, Descartes also spotted that ideas spring into conscious experience unbidden and there is a certain irony in the fact that Descartes' Res Cogitans is really a name for this non-conscious processor. <BR/><BR/>If we split the brain into a conscious part that doesn't think mechanically and a non-conscious part that processes internal and external events then skilled behaviour is smooth processing due to repetition and contemplative behaviour is processing that uses representation in the workspace of conscious experience for some reason as yet unknown (see <A HREF="http://newempiricism.blogspot.com/2009/02/time-and-conscious-experience.html" REL="nofollow">Time and conscious experience</A>).Thoughtshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17866896441731516034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-85779510741095900862009-04-02T14:35:00.000-06:002009-04-02T14:35:00.000-06:00I think Ryle was trying to answer the question of ...I think Ryle was trying to answer the question of why we seem to be able to do certain actions without apparent propositional thinking or even a succinct level of awareness. I don't see how Berkeley's notion of passive thought or the materialist position accounts for functioning under various levels of awareness or other human faculties such as intuition or conscience. Thoughts?Roger Aboudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06949990546500858907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-76908270033805617222009-04-02T07:59:00.000-06:002009-04-02T07:59:00.000-06:00I prefer Berkeley's concept of mind in which he ob...I prefer Berkeley's concept of mind in which he observes that ideas are passive. If this is the case then Ryle's characterisation of mind as related to intelligence is false. See <A HREF="http://newempiricism.blogspot.com/2009/03/materialist-should-read-this-first.html" REL="nofollow">Materialists should read this first</A>Thoughtshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17866896441731516034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-79235615898248313512009-02-09T11:13:00.000-07:002009-02-09T11:13:00.000-07:00Leslie,I look forward to reading them! Thanks aga...Leslie,<BR/><BR/>I look forward to reading them! Thanks again.Roger Aboudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06949990546500858907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-56257660401483275032009-02-07T13:53:00.000-07:002009-02-07T13:53:00.000-07:00Thanks Roger. I still tinkering at the edges on tw...Thanks Roger. I still tinkering at the edges on two papers that spend a significant time on Ryle's KH/KT distinction. The first is one on Hayek - he too references Ryle. I'll post both papers just as soon as I have got shot of them.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/><BR/>L.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-7592694372016369632009-02-07T11:52:00.000-07:002009-02-07T11:52:00.000-07:00Thanks Leslie! I just finished reading part of yo...Thanks Leslie! I just finished reading part of your treatment of Ryle and Oakeshott ... I 'd love to read the rest but could not navigate there. Great blog. I'll be sure to check it out.Roger Aboudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06949990546500858907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6380464511776035958.post-29453979987976390382009-02-07T06:24:00.000-07:002009-02-07T06:24:00.000-07:00Hi,You might also care to check out my forthcoming...Hi,<BR/><BR/>You might also care to check out my forthcoming paper on Ryle:<BR/><BR/>http://manwithoutqualities.wordpress.com/2007/05/06/ryle-and-oakeshott-on-the-knowing-howknowing-that-distinction/<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/><BR/>MWQ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com