What Reduction Means

Consciousness a brain process,
     What does that mean?

Here is a helpful analogy: water is only H20

identity: water= H20

When people talk about water, they really are talking about H20
     one word, or concept can be substituted for the other

Reduction: some more complex thing reduced to simpler

pain is a brain state
     = a brain state
what does this mean?
the 'is' of empirical reduction

Pain is nothing more than a brain state
Generalizing over all mental states,
We conclude
     The mind is nothing more than a computer
          different in physical constitution than my PowerBook, processing information different ways
     accomplishing similar tasks
Both are things obeying the same physical laws to similar ends

Consider this objection to reduction.

Plato believed water was wet
Plato didn't believe H2O was wet
     Handling such cases would take labor

Roughly
     Plato, not knowing the reduction, could not make this substitution

Were he told about it, he could reformulate his claims in an up to date vocabulary

Another example
Witches were believed to be under the control of the devil.
We reject that view
Witches are persecuted woman, perhaps hysterics
     No supernatural powers are in question, nothing over and above what survives that reduction

2 stages of reduction
1. rejecting claim that these things have some additional reality
2. explaining why they were believed to have reality