My co-blogger asked me to define mind. It should have been an easy task, but it's not. The convention is that 'mind' is defined by some proposition or statement that demarcates mind from brain and everything else. And in so doing 'mind' is presented as a particular, specific sort of a thing. A this or that sort of thing and not another. This type of definition is a conceptual practice that presumes to provide some sort of grounding. So, when done, it can become a final measure against which other definitions of mind can be assessed. But no, I really don't get very far in my thinking when I try to come out with a definition. And that's because there isn't one that serves all occasions. Whenever I think of something that might pass muster, I have my doubts. I pass all the conditions mentioned by the philosopher Richard Rorty in his description of the liberal ironist: I shall define an "ironist" as someone who fulfils three conditions: (1) She ha...