Gilbert Ryle
The 'ghost in the machine': looking for the mind as one more thing is a category mistake.
Life
Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976), born in Brighton, was Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Oxford from 1945 to 1968 and editor of Mind. In The Concept of Mind (1949) he attacked the Cartesian picture of a mind hidden in the body, which he called 'the dogma of the Ghost in the Machine': to speak of mind is to speak of abilities and ways of acting, not of one more thing. He matters for the question of mind.
Main works
Argues that the mind is not a hidden thing: believing so is a 'category mistake'.
Lectures on apparent conflicts between points of view.
Collection of his papers, including 'Knowing How and Knowing That'.
In his own words
« I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as 'the dogma of the Ghost in the Machine'. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHe rejects the mind as a hidden inner thing (the 'ghost in the machine', a category mistake): mental words describe ways of acting and capacities, though he is not a simple behaviourist.
Ryle, The Concept of Mind (1949)
He treats the 'will' as a myth and sees choice as part of ordinary intelligent conduct, so freedom is compatible with explanation of behaviour.
Ryle, The Concept of Mind (1949), ch. 3 'The Will'