Folk Psychology - Introduction

Reading

Lycan, passim.

Lecture where this is primarily covered

Week 4: Instrumentalism

Ordinary explanations of human behaviour: folk psychology

As human beings we have a very important interest in predicting people's behaviour. We are constantly observing what the other people around us are doing and constantly we are interested in predicting what they will do next. This is the stuff of everyday human intercourse.

It is argued that to help us predict the behaviour of others we have developed a theory. We have developed a sort of informal, everyday psychology. It has been called folk psychology. The theory is a good one - we find that when we use it to try and predict people's behaviour it gives us quite good results - ie it often gets its predictions right.

What is it, this theory?

Its basic terms are belief and desire, belief and want, if you prefer.

Folk psychology explains almost all human behaviour in terms of belief and desire.

"She did this because he wanted such and such and thought doing this would get her it."

That is s sort of explanation schema into which a great deal of everyday explanation of human behaviour fits.

Try it. I suggest behaviours and you suggest some possible explanations.

• Why have I got a door key in my pocket? Why did I come to campus along the A6 this morning? Why did Monica Lewinsky keep that dress?

This is the pattern of explanations offered by Folk Psychology.

Can you think of a piece of human behaviour for which we would not ordinarily invoke a belief-desire explanation? Some suggestions.

The framework of beliefs and desires which we invoke afterwards to explain a piece of behaviour we also invoke beforehand to predict.

Eg suppose we ask ourselves: What will Charlie do next?

Folk psychology will suggest a line of thougt like the following:

It will depend on what he wants and what he thinks will get him it.

Supposing we know he has missed his lunch. We may guess that he will be hungry. We may think he believes that eating a little something will alleviate his hunger. And so we may predict that he will start eating before long.

So here we have folk psychology at work, generating predictions of behaviour by ascribing beliefs and desires to people.

Psychology is attacked by eliminativism.

END

Is it part of Folk Psychology that while all power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely? Saith the Wise

Tester

If Folk Psychology is a theory, what would be an alternative? One suggestion.