When1: 1981
When2: 1995
Who: Fred I. Dretske [Dretske, Fred I.]
What: philosopher
Where: USA
works\ Knowledge and the Flow of Information [1981]; Explaining Behavior: Reasons in a World of Causes [1988]; Naturalizing the Mind [1995]
Detail: He lived 1932 to ?.
Epistemology
Beliefs are information about relations. People know relations by differences and similarities among related scenarios {relevant alternative}.
Mental states represent beliefs about external events.
Learning acts are the basis of representations. Learning links external events and internal natural indicators {natural sign, Dretske}. Natural signs are mental phenomena, personal experiences, and actions, not abstract or arbitrary symbols. In learning, representational system gathers information from environmental events to make new algorithms. Learning is not just sensitizing, habituating, or setting algorithm parameters.
Mental-state pattern or structure {belief, Dretske} influences neural events and provides reasons to perform behaviors {structuring cause} and so causes action {triggering event} that leads directly to behavior {structural-cause theory}.
Social Sciences>Philosophy>History>Mind
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Date Modified: 2022.0224