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Mind-Body Problem Exam 4 (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 2 2024 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED_.pdf
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8/12/24, 6:55 AMMind-Body Problem Exam 4
Jeremiah
Terms in this set (54)
Very scientific man because he didn't want to be proved wrong in the future
Method of Doubt: Descartes famously utilizes a variety of skeptical arguments, not for
the purpose of establishing skepticism (I.e., the denial of the possibility of knowledge),
but instead as a tool to help discover which of our beliefs are certain and indubitable.
Descartes
He lets people discern the doubts about his arguments so that the only thing left in his
argument is what is certain.
Had the idea of The Cogito. "I think Therefore I am"
Had Meditations on First Philosophy
Princess Elizabeth Presented The causal interaction problem criticism of Dualism
proposed that we understand Psychological State and Brain State not as correlations at
J.J.C. Smart all, but rather as establishing psych-neural identities. A certain kind of psychological
state and a certain kind of brain state refer to the very same thing.
Frank Jackson Knowledge Argument (Mary in the Black and White Room)
John Searle Chinese Room Thought Experiment
Brilliant mathematician and philosopher that cracked the German code in WWII. (The
Alan Turing imitation game movie) He also developed computing. He posed the question: Can
machines think? Can a computer pass the Turing Test?
beings with minds have 1st person experiences - states they can be aware of via
introspection. You can turn your minds-eye inward on itself and view the way you
experience the world
Consciousness There is "something it is like" to be such a being, to experience the world as they
experience it.
Without consciousness, the mind-body problem would be much less interesting. With
consciousness, it seems hopeless.
we have direct introspective access to our own mental states, but we can only learn
Privacy
about the mental states of others indirectly.
many mental states have intentional content or intrinsic "aboutness" - i.e., many thoughts
are about or represent something. "Think about the Eiffel Tower" so you have a thought
about the Eiffel Tower.
Note 1: do not confuse with intentionality in the sense of doing something deliberately
Intentionality or "on purpose."
Something that does not have intentionality is moods because we may feel an emotion
and not know why.
Note 2: Important to distinguish between intrinsic (aka original) intentionality and
derived intentionality.
Intrinsic intentionality in the minds of humans
language. - if you write the word blue on the white board, it's not intrinsically blue. The
Derived intentionality word isn't in and of itself about the color but is attached to that color derivatively
because human beings that have original intentionality created the language.
Are the murderer and the butler two different people or the same person? This is the
Numerical Identity motion of numerical identity. number of things you have, one thing or two different
things
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For the butler and the murderer to be identical they must share the same properties.
Qualitative Identity (qualitative identity). You can have qualitative identity without having numerical identity.
has all the same qualities.
If and only if claim
- Biconditional version: x=y If and only if x and y are qualitatively indiscernible.
- The identity of indiscernibles: if x and y are qualitatively indiscernible, then x=y
Leibniz's Law - The Indiscernibility of Identicals: if x and y are numerically identical , then x and y are
qualitatively identical.
- Leibniz's Law puts together the two laws of the identity of indiscernibles and the
indiscernibility of identicals
if x and y are qualitatively indiscernible, the x=y
Identity of Indiscernibles
Put differently, qualitative identity entails numerical identity.
if x = y, then x and y are indiscernible. or If x = y, then any property x has, y has too.
Indiscernibility of Identicals Put differently, numerical identity entails perfect qualitative identity (for any property
that one of them possesses, the other must possess.)
Some questions:
The Problem of Other Minds - How do we know that others have minds/mental states?
- How can one know that solipsism is false?
Solipsism .the view that "I am the only mind/thinking being that exists"
1. I am introspectively aware of the fact that much of my own behavior is caused by my
thoughts (my beliefs, desires, intentions, volitions, etc.)
2. I observed similar kinds of behavior in Dr. Miller (and others)
The analogical argument
a. References behavior instead of assuming a premise.
3. Thus, I can infer that the behavior of Dr. Miller (and others) is caused by his thoughts
(his beliefs, his desires, intentions, volitions, etc.)
You shouldn't make a generalization hastily by just observing one or a few. This
The fallacy of hasty generalization argument is generalizing with a sample size of one, me. You cannot form a universal
generalized confusion based on a sample size of one.
1. There are a variety of possible explanations of the behavior of others (including Dr.
Miller): e.g.,
a. They might be well-programmed AI chatbots.
b. They might be complex puppets with God as their puppeteer.
c. They might have mental states like my own that cause their behaviors.
The abductive argument d. Etc.
So many explanations, but which one is right? Which one is the best?
2. Of the possible explanations, the best explanation is that they have mental states like
my own.
While it is possible Dr. Miller may be an AI chatbot or a puppet, the best and most
simple and plausible explanation is the idea that he has a mind.
A human being consists of (i) a material (or physical) substance (aka your body) and (ii)
a non-material/thinking substance (aka your mind or soul)
Substance Dualism These two things are united in such a way that they causally interact with each other.
Your mind's thought causes motion in your body. What happens to the one affects the
other and vice versa.
1. The causal interaction problem - Princess Elizabeth
Criticisms for Substance Dualism 2. The Problem of explaining (non-human) animal minds
3. The Problem of Divided Minds
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