2.  Definition: The theory that mental states are really physical brain states  It is a contemporary materialist view  Materialists believe that reality is ultimately composed of matter  The main idea behind the theory is that feelings, desires, thoughts etc. are not intangible but they are physical manifestations of the brain  Materialists believe that science will soon discover that mental states and brain states are the same thing like water and H2O

3.  It is said that trying to identify conscious experiences with brain states will lead to problems  Brain states are publicly observable but conscious experiences are not  A brain surgeon can see different brain states but nobody can literally see a conscious experience  Thinking has no colour, location or shape  This could lead one to believe that brain states and a mental state/consciousness are different things with different qualities  Isn’t the essence of consciousness immaterial?

4.  J.J.C. Smart supports the mind/brain identity theory  He supports the idea of animal evolution and says that a nonphysical property could not just come from a chemical process (evolution)  He believes that science will discover that brain and mental states are identical  He also says that the relation between brain and mental states are contingent not necessary otherwise it would take the reduce the meaning of the words.

5.  Norman Malcolm is against the theory  He believes that if mental and brain states are the same then they would have all of the same properties and this is not the case  It is not necessary to assign spatial locations to mental states like thinking but brain states have a location  Thoughts require background circumstances like practice, habits, assumptions etc. but brain states do not  Also, there is no law of physics necessary or applicable for a thought

6. Question