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Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour CLASS NOTES
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Class notes of the course Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour. Complete with images, exercises and examples for the exam.
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Philosophy of Brain, Mind and BehaviourRead
Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour by Marc Slors, Leon de Bruin & Derek Strijbos
(chap 1-2, 5,7)
Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction. Samir Okasha (chap 1,5,7)
Grade
10% Assignment 1
10% Assignment 2
80% Exam
Philosophy for Psychologists
WHAT IS?!
SYSTEMATIC
Psychology as the science of the mind
what is the mind?
what is science?
free will
What is the mind? The case of self-control
Self-control = blood glucose levels
Self-control = deliberation winning out over impulses
Self-control = self-initiated manipulation of surroundings to regulate conflicting
impulses in the service of enduringly valued goals
The mind (self-control) isn't restricted to the body but involves a manipulation of the
surroundings. Self-control consists of manipulating the environment so that it becomes easier
to regulate this conflict of impulses.
What is science? The case of self-control
The replication crisis
Failure to replicate the ego depletion effect
Limited reservoir of mental energy
Ex. In the morning when you are rested and just had breakfast is easier to
resist a marshmallow than when you are tired and hungry
What distinguishes science from pseudoscience?
Replication and Falsification make it confusing
What does the process of doing science look like?
Mind-body problem
, asks:
What is the relationship between the mind and the body?
What is the relationship between the mental realm (the realm of thoughts, sensations,
emotions) and the physical realm (the realm of tables, bodies, neurons, atoms)?
Mind-body dualism
“the mental and the physical are both real and neither can be assimilated to the other”
Not a strange statement.
What are we talking about exactly when we talk about “the mental” and “the physical”?
Substance dualism - things
Property dualism - properties
Predicate dualism - terms in our language
Substance dualism
Mental substances and physical substances are both real and neither can be assimilated to the
other
Descartes
Meditations (book)
Mind: res cogitans, a thinking thing
Body: res extensa, an extended thing (it uses space in space)
X = Y, only when X and Y share all properties
Premise 1: I can doubt the existence of my body
Premise 2: I cannot doubt the existence of my thinking
Conclusion: Therefore, my body and my thinking cannot be the same thing
Premise 1: I can divide up my body
Premise 2: My mind cannot be divided up
Conclusion: Therefore, my body and my thinking cannot be the same thing
Counterarguments
Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia
The interaction problem:
How can an immaterial substance act on a material substance?
The morning star and the evening star
Premise 1: I can doubt the existence of my body
Premise 2: I cannot doubt the existence of my thinking
, Conclusion: Therefore, my body and my thinking cannot be the same thing
Q. What is the mind? What is its relation to the body?
A. The mind and the body are 2 different things (substance dualism).
Q. What do you mean by that exactly?
A. Mind is a thinking substance, body is extended substance (cartesian dualism)
Q. What arguments can you give for that idea?
A. We can doubt the existence of our bodies, but not of our doubting, so our doubting/
thinking and our bodies cannot be the same
Q. Is that really true though?
A. Well no, that conclusion does not follow from the premises
What are we left with?
Cartesian dualism
Material body versus immaterial mind
Outer realm (incertain) versus inner realm (more certain)
The question: what is the mind? How does the mind relate to the body?
Exercise:
“A person’s thinking, feeling, and purposive doing cannot be described solely in the idioms
of physics, chemistry and physiology.” What position is Gilbert Ryle describing here?
a) Substance dualism
b) Property dualism
c) Predicate dualism Correct answer because we need 2 different types of languages 1)
to describe the physical realm and 2) to describe the mental realm. One language can’t
be used for both things.
d) Behaviourism
Substance dualism is faced with the interaction problem. What is the interaction problem?
a) Substance dualism cannot explain the interaction between different thoughts
b) Substance dualism cannot explain the interaction between thoughts and behaviour
Correct answer “how can the physical and mental realm when these are 2 different
substances”
c) Substance dualism cannot explain the interaction between sense impressions and
behaviour
d) Substance dualism cannot explain the interaction between thoughts and the soul
Besides the distinction between an immaterial and a material body, there is another feature to
Cartesian dualism: the distinction between — and —
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