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How Representational Is the Mind? Introduction and Overview.

The article provides an overview of the history of Western ideas about the nature and function of mental representations. It compares Western ideas of mental representations with the Yogācāra Buddhist technical notion of inner vikalpas. It also shows carefully that the Buddhist epistemologists' issu...

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Published in:Philosophy East & West: A Quarterly of Comparative Philosophy Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 13 - 38
Main Author: Wenzel, Christian Helmut
Format: Article
Published: University of Hawai'i Jan2021
Subjects:
Mental representation
Philosophy of mind
Yogācāra (Buddhism)
Buddhist philosophy
Neurosciences
Cognitive science
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article provides an overview of the history of Western ideas about the nature and function of mental representations. It compares Western ideas of mental representations with the Yogācāra Buddhist technical notion of inner vikalpas. It also shows carefully that the Buddhist epistemologists' issues regarding the intentional structure of a momentary cognitive event are similar to the issues of cognitive science, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.