【心灵哲学】精神符号学：心灵哲学中的意义问题

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1、PrefaceIhave,asithappens,astrikinglyintelligentcat.Herearesomeofthebehaviorsinwhichhisintelligenceismanifest:Inthemorning,athisusualfeedingtime,Greycatprowlstheareaofthekitchennearhisfoodbowl.Whenbreakfastappears,heposi-tions.himself.withrespecttothebowlinamannerthatfacilitatesmge

2、sbon.Whenthehouseiscold,Greycatoftensleepsbeforethefireplace.Buthedoesthisonlyifthere'safireonthehearth,andhenevergetscloseenoughtosingehishair.Whenhisfootencountersasharpobject,Greycatwithdrawsit.Insimilarspirit,hemaintainsanappreciabledistancebetweenhimselfandthenearestaggressive

3、dog.Heoccasionallytrapsanddisembowelssmallrodents.Insayingthatthesebehaviorsmanifeststrikingintelligence,IdonotmeantoimplythatGreycatisatanintellectualadvantagewithrespecttoothercats.Onthecontrary,manycatownershavesimilaranecdotestoreport.Iallowforthehyperbolethattheirinfatuationpr

4、ompts,butbyandlargeIbelievethem.No,mypointisthatGreycatisstrikinglyintelligentincomparisonwith,forexample,rocks,trees,worms,andspiralnebulae.Rocks,trees,worms,andspiralnebulaeare,eachinitsownway,quitecom-plicatedobjects.Eachhasclaimedtheattentionofsomeofourbestscientificminds,andth

5、ereare,nodoubt,manythingsaboutthemthatwestilldon'tunderstand.YetnoneoftheirbehaviorsseemsremotelyascleverasGreycat's.Infact,theydon't-excepting,maybe,grosslymetaphorically-behaveatall.Oh,micehavedied,andwormshaveeatenthem;butnorock,andnospiralnebula-andnoworm,forthatmatter-haseverc

6、hasedamouse,letalonecaughtone.(Mousetrapscatchmice,ofcourse;butthatmanifestsourintelli-gence,nottheirs.)Itseemstometowantexplaining,thisimpressivedifferencebe-tweenGreycat'sbehavioralcapacitiesandthoseof,say,thespiralxPrefacenebulainAndromeda.Ihave,asithappens,astrikinglyintelligen

7、ttheory.ThetheoryisthatGreycat-unlikerocks,worms,nebulae,andtherest-has,andactsoutof,beliefsanddesires.Thereason,forex-ample,thatGreycatpatrolshisfoodbowlinthemorningisthathewantsfoodandbelieves-hascometobelieveonthebasisofearlierfeedings-thathisfoodbowlistheplacetofindit.Thereason

8、thatGreycatavoidsaggressiv