The locked-in syndrome and the behaviorist epistemology of other minds.
In this paper, the problem of correct ascriptions of consciousness to patients in neurological intensive care medicine is explored as a special case of the general philosophical 'other minds problem'. It is argued that although clinical ascriptions of consciousness and coma are mostly based on behavioral evidence, a behaviorist epistemology of other minds is not likely to succeed. To illustrate this, the so-called 'total locked-in syndrome', in which preserved consciousness is combined with a total loss of motor abilities due to a lower ventral brain stem lesion, is presented as a touchstone for behaviorism. It is argued that this example of consciousness without behavioral expression does not disprove behaviorism specifically, but rather illustrates the need for a non-verificationist theory of other minds. It is further argued that a folk version of such a theory already underlies our factual ascriptions of consciousness in clinical contexts. Finally, a non-behaviorist theory of other minds for patients with total locked-in syndrome is outlined.
Kurthen
M
M
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, Bonn, FRG.
Moskopp
D
D
Linke
D B
DB
Reuter
B M
BM
D001519:Behavior; D003128:Coma / Q000523:psychology; D003243:Consciousness; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D013577:Syndrome