One of the central concerns of the project is to get a better understanding of the nature of mental representation. But what are mental representations? Should we even accept the idea that there are representations in the head?
In the second Mind Bites podcast, Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith examines what it would take for there to be mental representations. Do we have the equivalent of inner maps? Interviewer Nigel Warburton presses him particularly on the question of whether an inner map would need an inner map reader – an unexplained homunculus. Godfrey-Smith brings out the important and powerful idea that there can be low-level, unintelligent reader devices. Sounding a note of caution, however, we warns that this idea should not be extended too far.
Fantastic interview — very much looking forward to PGS’ new book (“Other Minds”), hope it intersects with the material here.