ABSTRACT
The Eliminativist theory of the mind also called the Disappearance theory, was first put forward by Paul Feyerabend and Richard Rorty. Rorty offers models for his brand of Materialism. There is one peculiar feature of Rorty's models (heat/caloric fluid, disturbed old women/witches) that should be noted. They seem to depend upon the very 'theory'—the theory that mental entities exist—that Rorty is trying to cast doubt upon. Both Identity theorists and Causal theorists are Compatibilists about the mind-body problem. In the Free Will debate, however, there are philosophers who reject Compatibilism. The Eliminativist has got round the Properties problem. Dualists can and do argue against the Eliminativist that the mind is real, that they are directly aware of mental goings-on, that it is a fact of observation. Eliminativists are working, consciously or unconsciously, with a descriptivist theory of reference.
