Ideas like desires and fears and will do not exist and belong to this folk psychology, all there is are brain states. There are materialist and physicalist. All facts are physical facts and there is only one substance, material.
Mosh sort of echoed then when they said that “beliefs” are little narratives and myths
Paul Churchland gives us reason to abandon this folk psychology and replace it with neuroscience. There are simply some things such as mental illness that folk psychology cannot explain; folk psychology in modern times has had a severe lack of development (unlike neuroscience) and folk psychology doesn’t work or cooperate with any modern scientific theories. A key idea within folk psychology is that of intentionality, referring to the fact that mental states are always about or directed towards something. Beliefs, desires and hopes are always about something. However, physical objects are not about anything, so how can they be directed towards something when all that exists is physical? Well simply intentionality and mental states do not exist.
(Couldn’t be bothered to write it up again so there’s a smal fragment from an essay I wrote)
Patricia churchland worked with a pedoephile and used this in her work. This man had urges towards children and sought help. It turned out that he had a tumour in his brain and once removed these urges disappeared. Later on in life he came back to Patricia, having the same urges. The tumour had come back.
It’s this idea that we can explain things easier if we eliminate psychology and talk of mental states and just use brain states.
And the rest I can go into detail on if you want but it isn’t too complicated.
