THEORETICAL DESIDERATA ON PSYCHOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE THEORIES
THEORETICAL DESIDERATA ON PSYCHOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE THEORIES

Summary/Abstract: One may not find it controversial or objectionable to think that any theory of mind can claim explanatory potency only if there is a psychologically plausible theory of the domain in question. Indeed this may be taken to be the minimal consensus amongst the practitioners of the field that such a condition need to be met in order to take any theory of that domain seriously. But, how does one determine the psychological plausibility of such theories? In other words, what is or are the minimum condition(s) that a theory of mind in general or cognition in particular needs to satisfy in order to be included in the set of psychologically plausible theories? The purpose of this paper is primarily to pursue this question in the context of the debates over various theories of mind and in particular with reference to the exchanges between linguists and psychologists in relation to a number of theories of language as a domain of cognition. Thus, the paper will bear a meta-methodological relation to the disbutes and discussions about the condition of psychological plausibility as a minimum requirement for any theory of mind.

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