Posted by alexandra_k on December 22, 2004, at 18:10:40
In reply to Re: 1.5, posted by smokeymadison on December 21, 2004, at 21:05:02
Ok. So far the proposed candidates for the content of the anomalous experience that is relevant to the production of the Capgras delusion are:
‘feelings of non-recognition’ which consists in ‘unrecognized defects in the sensory system… or the endogenous activation or inhibition of the central neural representations of sensory input’ (Maher)
‘unusual experience of faces or a sense that “something is different” as a result of flattened affective responses’ (Davies et al's first attempt)
>The content of the experience of subjects with the Capgras delusion might be a general feeling that something is different, as Maher maintains and as Davies et al. firstly consider, though in this case we would seem to need something of a story as to why the delusion is focused solely on the replacement of certain individuals. The way in which we spell out the content of the delusional utterance and the way in which we spell out the content of the anomalous experience affects how big the step is between the content of the experience and the content of the belief. If the content of the experience is a vague or general experience of dissonance then it would indeed seem that a second factor would be required to determine that the subject arrives at a delusional belief.
When I talk about the 'content of the experience' think or read: what the experience is TELLING or INFORMING the subject. e.g., the experience of fear TELLS or INFORMS that something is fearful. If the subject says 'that is scairey' then this utterance is understandable (in the sense that they have simply come to believe what their experience is telling them).
The content of the belief is just what the subject believes that prompts their utterance. We need to translate a little between what people say and what they believe, though in general utterances are thought to EXPRESS beliefs.
In the way that if I say 'I am going to the bank' I could believe I am going to the river bank or I could believe that I am going to the money bank. ALL utterances need to be 'translated' to unearth the belief that they are expressions of, however. As Quine says: translation begins at home.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:432572
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20041210/msgs/433041.html