It is important what words we use. Different words mean different things (in the optimal case), but often also the same words mean different things to different people. So, in scientific contexts, it is of utmost importance to define the words which are used and which relate to the object of study.
In cognitive science, the object of study is human cognition; of importance are the human brain, human behaviour and human psychology. Whereas concepts like ‘neuron’ or ‘cell’ are sufficiently defined, central everyday concepts of mind are surprisingy unclear – and not understood. The situation is aggravated when more than one language is concerned. It is not even clear how to translate some words, as even words that seem to correspond closely have aquired slightly different connotations in the course of history.
Here I’ll try to set up a translation table (german-english) for some words used in describing that what we think make up mental aspects of being a human. I’ll regularly edit this post to refine the table.
- Gehirn: brain
- Gefühle, Emotionen: feelings, emotions
- Instinkte: instincts
- Reflexe: reflexes
- Verhalten: behaviour
- Verstand: mind
- Vernunft: reason
- Intuition: intuition (merely the subconscious?)
- Rationalität: rationality (different from reason?)
- Bewußtsein: consciousness (necessary for reason, rationality, mind?)
- Selbstbewußtsein: awareness (not self-consciousness!)
- Kreativität: creativity (a function of mind? of reason? something else?)
- Geist: spirit (now what’s that? emotions + mind + reason?)
- Seele: soul
Especially interesting and blurry are the distinctions in the middle, beginning at mind and ending at awareness.
The last two words are principally used by religious persons and are not needed in materialist theory of mind.
What is the difference between mind and reason, or Verstand and Vernunft?
Mind seems to be used in a more general way, simply describing the function of the brain. Mind is what a brain does, mind is the abstraction for thought. Thought can be crazed, incoherent, unordered, undirected.
Reason means those thoughts that are rational, sensible, which follow the rules of logic and which are appropiate to the context. Two questions arise immediately:
- Is reason independent of mind and environment?
- If it is not, and the environmental constraints are satisfied, who defines what thinking is reasonable and what not? To decide this, one would need rules on a higher level, or one just conforms to the majority.
