Generality of Thought

Consciousness and rationality are two significant and defining characteristics of human thought.   They are what distinguish humans from any other animal.   When attempting to understand the relationship between body and mind, one approach—the argument from generality of thought—uses the quality of generality to arrive at the conclusion that thoughts are immaterial.   It does so by first examining the relative specificity of thoughts, explaining that some thoughts are more general than others.   For example, the thought of a red circle is more specific and less general than the thought of a mere coloured circle.   This distinction is the very first premise: some thoughts are general.   The second premise can be arrived at by way of a subordinate argument that’s first premise is: all awareness that is general contains general properties intentionally.   This means that a general awareness contains within it all the general properties of that awareness.   The second premise of the subordinate argument is that no awareness that is material contains general properties intentionally.   This means that if an awareness is material—say, an awareness that is experienced through sensory acts—all of the properties it contains are fully specific, and the least general.   Based on the two premises of the subordinate argument, we arrive at its conclusion, which is also the second premise of the original argument: no awareness that is material is general.   For example, if we were to touch and examine a red ball, our awareness would be fully specific.   We would be examining the ball at a specific time and place, we would see it as being a fully specific shade of red, we would feel it as having a fully specific texture, etc.   Since it has been established that any material awareness is fully specific and not general, we can arrive at the conclusion of the main argument: some thoughts are immaterial.   Essentially, this is saying that general thoughts are immaterial.   However, the argument... [continues]

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