Grice's Chain of Being

--- by JLS
------ for the GC

Grice writes in his "Method in philosophical psychology" (now repr. in his "Conception of value", 1991):

"Aristotle regarded types of soul

(as I would suppose of living thing) as

forming a "developing series"."

--- I never was able to find the Greek for this. Although the context is clear: like 'number', 'soul' does NOT get defined by genus and species, but as a 'developing series'.

Grice goes on:

"I interpret that idea that the psychological

theory for a given type is an extension of, and includes, the psychological

theory of its predecessor type. The reaisation of this idea is at least

made possible by the assumption that psychological laws may be of a

_ceteris paribus_ form, and so can be modified without emendation. If this

aspect of the programme can be made good, we may hope to safeguard the

UNITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS in their application to animals and to

human beings. Tho' (as Wittgenstein noted) certain animals caan only

_expect_ such items as food, while men can expect a drought next summer, we

can (if we wish) regard _the_ concept of expectation as being determined

not by the laws relating to it which are found in a single psychological

theory, but by the SEQUENCES OF SETS OF LAWS realting to it which are FOUND

IN AN ASCENDING SUCCESSION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES".


(Grice writes that "earlier versions of this address were given in lectures at Princeton University in March 1972, and as a John Dewey Lecture at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in April 1974" (p.121).

What does Toby do?

For Grice, a functionalist account is in terms of a folk psychological theory. His
[Grice's] favourite creature is the squirrel, and this is how he explains
the squirrel eating the nut.

The stages are finite:



1. Squirrel Toby has nut N in front of him.




2. Toby is short on squirrel food
(observed or assumed), so



3. Toby wills squirrel food
(By postulate of Folk Pyschological Theory T
connecting will with intake of N)


4. Toby prehends nuts as in front
(from (1) by Postulate of Folk Psychological Theory,
if it is assumed that "nuts" and "in front" are
familiar to Toby).


5. Toby joins squirrel-food with gobbling and nuts
and in front
(i.e. Toby judges gobbling, on nuts in front, for
squirrel food.
By Postulate of Folk Psychological Theory T
with the aid of prior observation. So, from 3, 4
and 5


6. Tobby gobbles; and since nuts ARE in front of him,
gobbles the nuts in front of him.

I recall Jan Dejnozka commenting when I mentioned it to him: "I think this is the first philosophical analysis of eating I've ever seen!" -- and publicly so. Ah well.