Searle’s theory of Biological Naturalism has been largely ignored in the philosophical literature and Searle’s commentators are confused by his seemingly contradictory views. In this dissertation I attempt to make sense of Biological Naturalism. In chapter 2 I will ascertain which concerns prevent Searle’s readers from understanding his position. The remaining chapters aim to dissolve the tensions and dispel any confusion. Chapter 3 considers Searle’s notion of first-person ontology, finding that it expresses a belief that experiences are essentially subjective and qualitative. In chapter 4 I consider the notions of levels of description, causal reduction and what Searle means by causation and realisation. Chapter 5 turns to the question of how to categorise Searle’s position. Many of his critics charge him with being a property dualist. By highlighting the difference between the meaning of irreducibility intended by the property dualist and Searle I show that there is sufficient difference in their use of the term so as to reject an interpretation of Biological Naturalism as a form of property dualism. Chapter 6 is where I turn to the other end of the physicalism/dualism spectrum and assess whether Searle should be seen as holding a form of identity theory. I first argue for a neutral form of identity that I call real identity, which does not include the inherent reductive privileging of standard identity. I then argue that Searle should be seen as advocating a form of real identity theory; a form of token identity theory which does not privilege the physical over the mental. In chapter 7 I return to the main barriers to making sense of Biological Naturalism which I identified in chapter 2 and lay out my response to each. I conclude with a coherent interpretation of Searle’s position.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:37:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Raphael do Amaral Vaz.pdf: 970202 bytes, checksum: 4df41be31518a3c02063ccb1928f99d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-18 / This research aims to study the construction of identity in the virtual community Orkut, identifying the reasons for the choice of identity and how individuals construct their virtual identity, aims to also determine what features and qualities are virtual identity, identify similarities and differences between virtual and real life identity, and, finally, to observe how the subject relates to your friends Orkut and how it relates to them in real life. For this, we conducted semistructured interviews with ten patrons of that community (men and women) between 20 and 32 years. The respondents' answers were categorized from some common words found in them. The results were analyzed using the theoretical framework of Analytical Psychology. It was observed that results in the formation of virtual identity is based on the various ways in which users work in this social network. Established through interaction between friends, many users design their wishes on Orkut to be seen by others as they would like to see. Raised through the categories of responses, we can observe that the construction of virtual identity that occurs from projective action of the subject in relation to the other members of social networking and also always having a relationship with the real identity of the subject. We can say that the formation of virtual identity in this study had a fundamental importance to clinical psychology, as we understand the permanence of Orkut users in a psychic link is established between the subject and digital social network, providing projective actions of psychic contents Persona / Esta pesquisa visa a estudar a construção da identidade virtual na comunidade do Orkut, identificando quais as motivações para a escolha da identidade e como o sujeito constrói a sua identidade virtual; tem por objetivo, ainda, verificar que características e qualidades têm a identidade virtual, identificar semelhanças e diferenças entre a identidade virtual e a vida real, e, por fim, observar como o sujeito se relaciona com suas amizades do Orkut e como se relaciona com elas na vida real. Para isso, foi realizada entrevista semidirigida com dez frequentadores dessa comunidade (homens e mulheres), entre 20 a 32 anos. As respostas dos entrevistados foram categorizadas a partir de algumas palavras em comum encontradas nas mesmas. Os resultados foram analisados por meio do referencial teórico da Psicologia Analítica. Observou-se nos resultados que a formação da identidade virtual ocorre a partir das diversas maneiras com que os usuários atuam nesta rede social. Por meio da interação estabelecida entre os amigos, muitos usuários projetam seus desejos no Orkut a fim de serem vistos pelos outros da forma como gostariam de serem vistos. Nas categorias levantadas por meio das respostas, foi possível observar que a construção da identidade virtual ocorre a partir dessa ação projetiva do sujeito na sua relação com os demais membros da rede social e também tendo sempre um vínculo com a identidade real do sujeito. Podemos dizer que a formação da identidade virtual neste estudo teve uma importância fundamental para a Psicologia Clínica, pois compreendemos que a permanência dos usuários no Orkut consiste em um vínculo psíquico estabelecido entre o sujeito e a rede social digital, proporcionando ações projetivas de conteúdos psíquicos da Persona