Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Date of this Version
1979
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Behavioristic axiomatizations of human evaluation have been well established (von Newmann and Morgenstern, 1953; Leinfellner, 1969). The axiomatization of the evaluative interpretation scheme can be applied to the historical sciences and provides a model of historical time. Newtonian time can be defined by imposing a strict serial order on temporal events by means of the relations of simultaneity and succession, which has been axiomatized recently (Leinfellner, 1966). The former axiomatization of the structure of evaluation can be combined with the latter axiomatization of the structure of temporally ordered memory, based on preference and indifference relations of an individual as he evaluates past events or future possible events. The author's intention is to go a step further and incorporate the organization of the brain as foundations of memory time and evaluation. In recent publications, Pribram (1976) showed that the organization of the brain fulfills the requirements of the von Newmann and Morgenstern axiomatization of evaluation. Further, research has shown that memory is correlated with certain biochemical changes in the brain. In short, we obtain a new solution for the mind-body problem with respect to evaluative behavior and decision-making, especially with respect to evaluation of an individual's history.
Comments
Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences- Volume VII, 1979. Copyright © 1979 Schank