The homunculus argument is an informal fallacy whereby a concept is explained in terms of the concept itself, recursively, without first defining or explaining the original concept.[1] This fallacy arises most commonly in the theory of vision. One may explain human vision by noting that light from the outside world forms an image on the retinas in the eyes and something (or someone) in the brain looks at these images as if they are images on a movie screen (this theory of vision is sometimes termed the theory of the Cartesian theater: it is most associated, nowadays, with the psychologist David Marr). The question arises as to the nature of this internal viewer. The assumption here is that there is a "little man" or "homunculus" inside the brain "looking at" the movie.
The reason why this is a fallacy may be understood by asking how the homunculus "sees" the internal movie. The answer[citation needed] is that there is another homunculus inside the first homunculus's "head" or "brain" looking at this "movie". But that raises the question of how this homunculus sees the "outside world". To answer that seems to require positing another homunculus inside this second homunculus's head, and so forth. In other words, a situation of infinite regress is created. The problem with the homunculus argument is that it tries to account for a phenomenon in terms of the very phenomenon that it is supposed to explain.[2]
^Kenny, Anthony (1971). "The Homunculus Fallacy". In Grene, Marjorie (ed.). Interpretations of Life and Mind: Essays around the problem of reduction. New York: Humanities Press. pp. 65–74. ISBN 978-0-391-00144-2.
^Richard L. Gregory. (1987), The Oxford Companion to the Mind, Oxford University Press
and 21 Related for: Homunculus argument information
The homunculusargument is an informal fallacy whereby a concept is explained in terms of the concept itself, recursively, without first defining or explaining...
modern times, it was thought that homunculus, an artificial humanlike being, could be created through alchemy. The homunculus first appears by name in alchemical...
instant, making the decisions and sending out commands (cf. the homunculusargument). The term "Cartesian theater" was brought up in the context of the...
because of Ryle's regress and the homunculusargument. Recently, reliance on the private language argument and the "homunculus objection" has itself come under...
regarding what constitutes science. Binding problem Change blindness Homunculusargument Philosophy of mind Physicalism Scientism Society of Mind The Conscious...
incorporating the effect Chinese boxes Dream within a dream Fractal Homunculusargument Infinity mirror Infinite regress Matryoshka doll Infinity Quine Scale...
Cosmological argument – Argument for the existence of God Discworld – Fantasy book series by Terry Pratchett God of the gaps – Theological argumentHomunculus argument –...
proposition that information metabolism has its control center (the homunculusargument) and the view that brain is only used in 30%. Nevertheless, as noted...
logic -- History of the function concept -- Hold come what may -- Homunculusargument -- Horn clause -- Hume's fork -- Hume's principle -- Hypothetical...
1896. p. 367 Fischer 1970, pp. 4–8. Bunnin & Yu 2004, "Homunculus". "A List Of Fallacious Arguments". Retrieved 6 October 2012. Bennett, Bo. "Inflation of...
input-output system. This is chiefly due to the problems presented by the Homunculusargument, which concluded that semantic meaning could not be derived from...
required – it is more like "kicking a kick". This explanation evades the Homunculus Objection, as adhered to by Gilbert Ryle, among others. Ryle was unable...
preformationist camp, spermists (who claimed the homunculus must come from the man) to ovists, who located the homunculus in the ova. Dutch microscopist Antonie...
"Just how conceptually economical is the Many Worlds Interpretation?". homunculus. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-15. Orzel...
life, and in medieval Jewish stories of the Golem, a magically animated homunculus built of clay. However, the possibility of actually constructing a conscious...
Knight, who is later revealed to be Jenius. He is later revealed to be a homunculus created by Amis Germain in an attempt to turn him into the Son of Destruction...
stimulation mapping research in the 1950s, resulting in the cortical homunculus and cortical maps; neurosurgeon Tipu Aziz. Narrated by Henrietta Bess...
world by successfully pulling off a mass genocide of their counterparts. Homunculus Hwang affair In some countries (e.g., the Italian Republic) international...
infinite regress of homunculi. Each explanatory homunculus is “stupider” or more basic than the homunculus it explains, but this regress is not infinite...