Eliminativists think that common-sense mental states, including beliefs, desires, and pains, are
A) brain states; they are identical to the mental states to which they correspond.
B) emergent properties; they arise from certain underlying mental states.
C) like witches; they are the posits of a mistaken folk theory, and we should come to grips with the fact that they do not exist.
D) mere epiphenomena; they appear real to us, but have no causal efficacy.

Question

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Eliminativists believe that common-sense mental states, such as beliefs and desires, are like witches - posits of a mistaken folk theory. They argue that we should come to grips with the fact that these mental states do not really exist. Eliminativists typically claim that such states are not reducible to brain states, and that our common sense understanding of them is simply wrong.

Eliminativists Think That Common-Sense Mental States, Including Beliefs, Desires, and Pains