ABSTRACT
We have been considering some current myths that are designed to bring the life of the mind within the province of scientific method. It is, however, surprising in a way that these are still felt to be necessary after so much trouble has been taken to get rid of that disturbing entity altogether. As Steven Pinker has put it,
The concept of mind has been perplexing for as long as people have reflected on their thoughts and feelings. The very idea has spawned paradoxes, superstitions and bizarre theories in every period and culture. One can almost sympathise with the behaviourists and social constructionists of the first half of the twentieth century, who looked on minds as enigmas or conceptual traps that were best avoided in favour of overt behaviour or the traits of a culture.1
