心の行動抑制ネットワーク仮説と有機体の哲学

抄録

The behavioral inhibition network is a conceptual model that combines a mechanism for inhibiting extraneous behavior so that animals can maintain behavior appropriate to their environment, and the other one for suddenly releasing that inhibition and producing unexpected behavior. This model was developed from efforts to reconsider the animal mind not only as a source of mental function, but also as a source of otherness. Originally conceived as a mechanism by which the mind produces otherness, the model has points of contact with Whitehead's philosophy of the organism. The first is that extraneous behaviors hide inside the animal by inhibiting each other, so that behaviors appropriate to the environment are maintained. This function of inhibition is related to the 'negative prehension' in the philosophy of the organism. The second is that unexpected behavior is produced. Unexpected behavior is positioned as extraneous behavior in contrast to environmentally appropriate behavior. On the other hand, in an unknown environment, where it is impossible to choose a suitable behavior from an existing behavioral repertoire, unexpected behavior is positioned as an emergent behavior to help the animal cope for the time being. The emergence of such unexpected behavior is associated with 'novelty' in the philosophy of organisms. This paper considers the significance of the behavioral inhibition network model for the philosophy of organisms. Section 1 explains how this network works, using the example of an experiment leading to unexpected behavior in a familiar animal, the pill bug. Section 2 considers the the relationship between this model and Whitehead’s philosophy of organism.