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Philosophy Final

Terms in this set (48)

What is the Mind Body Problem?
How are the mind and body related? (Are minds just brains are they immaterial things?)
The Substance Dualists
they are two completely separate substances that unite a human being is alive. (Descartes)
-The non-Reductive Physicalist
the mind is produced by having certain brain states, but the mind is not identical to those states. (Nagel)
The Reductive Physicalist
the mind is identical to the brain or certain brain states. (reduces thoughts and feelings to the brain) (Churchland)
What is Qualia?
refers to the phenomenological fell of experience
-As Nagel puts it "the what it is like" of our internal states
-Ex: What is it like to eat peanut butter or marmite.
What is Nagel's argument from bat consciousness against the reductive physicalist?
If bats have consciousness then there is something what it is like to be a bat. Physical reductiveness can't be true because they won't know what it is like to be a bat.. based on qualia. Physical reductiveness can not explain everything about bats because you don't know what it is like to be a bat.
Why should we think that consciousness is essentially subjective in nature?
Consciousness can never fully be captured. When we take away the subjective part of consciousness we get further away from what it is. Ex: When we talk about being a bat we can never understand the consciousness of a bat. Nagel things we are missing what it is like to be a bat.. he thinks the qualia aspects is important and cannot be known without the experience. Theres more to know about bats than just facts.. he thinks you can't know what it's like to be a bat without the experience of being a bat.
What is Descartes' Substance Dualism?
There are two substances: mind (soul) and body
-Each substance is capable of independent existence
-Mind is essentially thoughtful (when you are capable of thought you know you have a mind)
-Body is essentially extended (it takes up some space)
-When mind and body are joined together in union (living human beings), there is two-way interaction between them. The body is affecting the soul and the soul is affecting the body. (Ex when you want to raise your hand and you lift your hand up)
What is the interaction problem?
Elizabeth want to know from Descartes how exactly the mind and body interact. Descarte claims the mind and soul are 2 separate things yet when they are joined there is a 2 way interaction between them. Elizabeth want Descartes to provide an account of how the mind/body interaction works.
What are primitive notions?
They are ideas that form from the basis of all our knowledge. Examples: being, number, duration, extension, thought. Descartes thinks that you have to apply these ideas in the right way. To think about anything you need to think about the ideas and apply your mind to think the right way. Descartes claims that the confusion about how bodies move comes from a confused understanding of which primitive notions apply to body. People believe that heaviness has the ability to move bodies and heaviness is a property( mode, quality) of body. However, heaviness is nothing distinct from the body.
What is Elisabeth's view about the nature of mind/soul?
The minds have to be extended and that it takes up some space so that it can interact with the other extended thing (the body). She thinks mind and body is both extended. Descarte just thinks the body ( any physical or material thing) is extended.
What is Elisabeth's argument (#1) that an immaterial soul cannot move the body?
1.if the soul moves the body, then it must do so via information.
2.if the body is moved by information, then it would have to be intelligent.
3.according to Descartes, the body is not intelligent.
4.therefore the soul does not move the body.
---Objection to premise #3---
What is Elisabeth's argument (#2) that the soul is not essentially thoughtful, immaterial, and independent of body?
1.If the soul is essentially thoughtful, immaterial, and independent of the body, then it cannot be affected by the material properties of the body.
2.according to Descartes, the soul is affected by the material properties of the body.
3.Therefore, the soul is not essentially thoughtful, immaterial, and independent of the body.
---Objection to premise #1---
How do we gain knowledge about the soul, the body, and the union, according to Descartes?
As soon as we start thinking you will know you have a soul. For the body you have to use your understanding and your imagination. The union is the union between the mind and body.. ex: when you want to raise your hand.

According to Descartes, we gain knowledge about the:

Soul-we gain knowledge of the soul by the pure understanding( this is when we consider something by reason alone.)

Body-we gain better knowledge of the body by understanding and imagining.( imagining occurs when you represent something pictorially- Descartes believes that this is an operation of the body, NOT MIND.)

Union-we gain knowledge of union by the senses we experience( we just experience this all the time)
What is Elisabeth's argument (#3) that it is possible that the soul is extended? What is Descartes's Truth Rule?
1.If i do not clearly understand and distinctly perceive that P, then i should withhold assent to the truth of P.
2.If i do not clearly and distinctly perceive that it is incompatible with the essence of the mind/soul to be extended.
3.Therefore, i cannot know that it is true that the mind/soul is not extended.
4.Therefore it is possible that the mind/soul is extended.
-Objection to premise #2(Descartes)-- extension only applies to the body,not mind.

- Descartes truth rule is premise #1
What is the evidence in favor of substance dualism? What are Churchland's objections?
1. human capacity for reasoning and language. and 2. consciousness.

Churchlands objections to this are that #1. computers/software seem to be able to do these things. #2. reasoning, consciousness, moral feelings, religious feelings, political convictions, aesthetic judgement, moods and personal traits can all be altered if the brain is affected.
Why might we think that substance dualism can account for the self/unity of consciousness and free will?
Explanation for the unity of consciousness or self
o Substance Dualism is a benefit of this theory
What is the self? ... complicated issue
We are not obvious to ourselves
Non-conscious and subconscious processes seem to influence "conscious" problem solving
Things we perceive as clear and easy are complicated
There is no one type of brain process that constitutes consciousness
There isn't a part that is looking on to the other parts, it's a series of complex processes going on at various levels

o Ex. When we walk into a room and only see a part of the vision, no color vision on the side but the brain knows its there (filling in experience)
There is this immaterial thing which is the nature of to be conscious and to be free.
Why does Churchland disagree that substance dualism can account for the self/unity of consciousness and free will?
You can say the thoughts are in the soul just like you can say about the brain. She doesn't think it's an explanation at all that there is immaterial things which is the nature to be conscious and to be free.
What are the costs of substance dualism?
The interaction problem..doesn't seem to be an answer to it. There is no account of how they material minds and material bodies interact with each to her. And souls.. its a cost because you can't verify them.
What is Churchland's explanatory argument against substance dualism?
1. According to substance dualism, human learning, thinking, and consciousness is explained by the having of an immaterial soul
2. Non-human animals learn, think, and have consciousness
3. Either non-human animals have souls or their learning is explained by brain functions
4. Non-human animals do not have souls
5. Therefore, non-human thinking is explained by brain function
6. If some phenomena can be fully explained by natural means there is no reason to resort to additional supernatural explanations (based on Ockham's Razor)
Ockham's Razor = Simplest explanation is the best, don't add entities that you don't need to add for your explanation (no extra thing)
7. If brain function is capable of explaining learning, thinking and consciousness in non-human animals, then there is no reason to appeal to an immaterial soul in the case of humans
8. Therefore, substance dualism is false
Possible Objections?
Premises (7) "IF" true, then "false" objection
Premise (2): Non-animals don't learn, think and have consciousness

^ not sure if that's right
What are some problems with Churchland's explanatory argument against substance dualism?
You can say non human animals do have souls, you can say that there is another cause besides their souls and their brains that is the cause
In the end, why does Churchland think we should reject substance dualism as a solution to the mind/body problem?
She thinks the costs outway the benefits. She says the advantages are 0. The two big costs are the account of how the interaction takes place (isn't one) that you have to pause at the existence at souls.
What is Gretchen's challenge for Sam?
Sam needs to show that it is possible for Gretchen to Survive her death
What are the 2 criteria for being the same person that Gretchen insists upon?
In order to be the same person, there must be appropriate memory and anticipation.
What does the Kleenex box show?
Designed to show that we use the term "identical" in two different ways:
-"Exactly similar": This is what we mean when we speak of identical twins
-"Strict Identity": 1=1, Peter Parker is identical to Spiderman
-We are concerned with Strict Identity
What is Gretchen's view of personal identity?
For someone to be the same person as they were previously is that you have to have the same body. Same person; same body
What is Sam's first view of personal identity?
First view: A person is identical to their soul
What is Gretchen's argument against Sam's view based on the chocolates, the Blue River, and the soul-swapping cases (you need to understand these cases)?
Gretchen's Objection to Sam
1.If Sam's view is true, then P1 is identical to P2 iff P1 and P2 have the same soul.
2.If Premise 1 is true, then judgements about personal identity are judgments about souls.
3.Souls are unobservable
4.If souls are unobservable, then judgements about souls are groundless.
5.Therefore, judgements about souls are groundless.
6.Our judgments about personal identity are not groundless
7.Therefore, our judgments about personal identity are not judgements about souls
8.Therefore Sam's view is false.


It's possible you have the same personality and not the same soul in the same way rivers can have the same look but different water. (Blue River)

-We only learn by experience that what is on the outside is correlated with what is on the inside.

-We have no experience with souls. (Case of Chocolates)

Soul swapping: We can not know in our own case that we have the same soul we did when we were born, last week, or even a few seconds ago.
What are Sam's objections to Gretchen's views based on waking up in the morning and on Kafka's Metamorphoses?
Sam's Second Objection
Based on Kafka's Metamorphosis
1.If Gretchen's view is true, then it is impossible to remain the same person while having a different body.
2.IT is not impossible to remain the same person while having a different body.
3.Therefore, Gretchen's view is false.
What is the Four-Dimensional View of Persons?
-A person is a collection of parts called "Person-stages"
-Person's stages are stretches of consciousness (and any physical or spiritual parts that accompany them)
-no two person-stages are identical to each other (they happen at different times and places)
A person P1 is identical to a person P2 iff they share all and only the same person stages
Explain the memory theory (MT) and its purpose.
-" the relationship between two person-stages that makes them stages of a single person is just that the latter one contains memories of the earlier one." You are the same person if you can remember the previous stages you be appropriate memory.
Give Gretchen's objection to MT based on the Hypnotist.
We need to be able to distinguish real memories from (apparent) false memories
What are appropriately caused memories (ACM)?
(Dave's solution) Appropriately caused Memories are those which are caused by the actual performances of the act

ACM: a collection of person-stages compromises a person if the stages are connected by Appropriately Caused Memory
What is Sam's Thesis about how Gretchen might survive her death (given MT and ACM)?
-Gretchen will survive her death if a conscious heavenly person exists with her ACM
-God created a person in heaven that has the same mental states that Gretchen had at the time of her death
Give Gretchen's Reductio Ad Absurdum to Sam's Thesis.
1.Sam's thesis is true
2.HG1 is not identical with HG2
3.HG1 has Gretchen's ACM
4.Therefore, HG1 is identical with Gretchen
5.HG2 has Gretchen's ACM
6.Therefore, HG2 is identical with Gretchen
7.HG1 is identical with HG2. (By transitivity of Identity)
8.HG1 both is and is not identical with HG2
9.Premise 8 is necessarily false
10.Therefore, Sam's thesis is false
What is the case of Julia North, and what is it supposed to tell us about personal identity?
Julia gets hit by a train and Mary watches this all happen and has a stroke.. so her brain is gone.. and Julia's body is gone.. so they Julia's brain and puts it into Mary's body.

Gretchen. thinks the person with the body survives.. everyone thinks its Julia besides her husband and Gretchen.. because gretchen believes same body same person.
Give Dave's objection to Gretchen's view based on this case. What is Gretchen's response?
1.The New Person is identical with Julia
2.If Gretchen's view is true and the New Person is identical with Julia, then the New Person's body is identical to Julia's body
3.The New Person's Body is identical with Mary's Body
4.Mary's Body is not identical with Julia's body
5.Therefore, the New Person's Body is not identical with Julia's body
6.Therefore, Gretchen's view is false
Gretchen's Response:
-she denies premise 1
-The New Person is Mary Frances Beaudine, but she survives deluded
What is Dave's "Conventional Identity?"
There are 2 criteria of Personal Identity:
-Bodily Continuity
-Psychological Continuity
-In the case of Julia North, the criteria were not helpful
-In the case, it is simply a matter of convention which we choose
What is Gretchen's objection to Conventional Identity?
-Suppose Gretchen's brain is transplanted into a healthy body, and Dave convinces her she will be the survivor
-She gets an upset stomach if she has aspirin, but the Dr. says it will save her headache later
-she takes the aspirin
-The supreme court then decides she won't be the survivor, it will be the person whose body her brain goes into.
What are the two virtues of MT?
It allows you to know who you are without looking at your body or your brain and the other is it seems to capture what's important to us about persons (people's memories, believes and ideas are important about another person)
Give Gretchen's objection to MT based on the Brain Rejuvenation case. What is Dave's Ad Hoc solution to this problem?
Gretchen's Objection
The Brain Transplant and Brain Rejuvenation
-Dave wants Gretchen to take the Brain Transplant
-She refuses because it won't be her
-Gretchen tells him about the brain rejuvenation operation- A new brain is made to exactly duplicate another in terms of psychologically relevant states

Daves Ad Hoc Solution
-If Gretchen's brain is transplanted (Brain A), it is Gretchen.
-If a second brain is created (Brain B), it is not Gretchen
Why does Gretchen think that his ad hoc solution doesn't work?
There is 2. The first one is when they give the "God Case"..Sam says Gretchen will survive her death if god creates a heavenly person that has all her appropriate caused memories..Gretchen says If god can do it once than he can do it twice and then there would be two people in heaven that are Gretchen so that wouldn't be you. Then Sam says that if there's only 1 of you than it's actually you.. but if there's 2 of you than neither of you are "you". Gretchen says that idea is crazy and absurd. Which would mean if there was two of you then one of you would die.

Dr. Mathews can not just transplant your brain but he can also rejuvenate(copy) it. Dave says if he transplants the brain then its you... but if rejuvenates it then its not you. Gretchen says there that, you lose the virtues of the memory theory (that you can know who you are without looking at your body). In this case you would have to know what brain you have.. and its hard to know what our brain looks like if your brain went into another person's body. The rejuvenated and the transplant brain are both supposed to be Gretchen. We should care about the brain equally because they are both have the characteristics of Gretchen. We never get a reply.. Gretchen dies.
What is Time Travel according to Lewis?
Time travel is a discrepancy between time and time. For the time traveler, the separation in time between departure and arrival DOES NOT equal the duration of his journey.
What is the 1st Paradox (Unequal Amounts of Time), and how is it resolved?
the 1st paradox is how can the same event be separated by two "unequal amounts of time"?.

The solution to this is that there is a distinction between external and personal time.
PErsonal time is roughly measured by the time travelers wristwatch. IT IS NOT TIME AT ALL, but plays the role of time in the time in the person's life.
What is the 2nd Paradox (Personal Identity), and how is it resolved?
The second paradox is "personal identity"- the time traveler who travels into the past and talks to himself looks like 2 different persons-How is it that they are one and the same? we know that 2 distinct individuals can't be one person.

Resolution: 4-dimensional theory of persons. it is 2 temporal parts of a person that are present at the same time, NOT 2 persons. the time travelers stages are connected by mental connectedness and continuity. time travelers stages are causally connected. When Harry and Hermione time travel into the past they see themselves several times. It appears as though they are one and the same person. However 2 distinct individuals cannot be one person. Lewis's resolution to the paradox of personal identity is a 4-dimensional theory of persons. So when we see 2 Harrys its' not that we see 2 distinct individuals, we see 2 temporal parts of Harry that are present at the same time. These parts are connected by mental connectedness and continuity.
What is the 3rd Paradox (Backwards Causation), and how is it resolved?
There is something we do now that will affect the past. Lewis believes that what's important about time travel is to say that the past is unfixed and unchangeable. Lewis says that time travel does involve backwards causation. Harry and Hermione realize what they did when time traveling.. but they just didn't realize a part of them was always there. Lewis believes what's important about time travel is to say that the past is fixed and unchangeable.

The third paradox is that it seems like time travel involves backwards causation(that things in the present or future cause things in the past to happen). Impossible though because the past is fixed and unchangeable.

Solution: time travel DOES involve backwards causation, however there is no contradiction.
What is the 4th Paradox (Causal Loops), and how is it resolved?
The 4th paradox is that some time travel must involve "causal loops"(uncaused information preserving circuits in time. Causal loops are impossible because every effect must have a cause.

solution: Every effect within the loop has an explanation. HOWEVER if you ask where the info came from in the first place there is no answer to that question. Once you have given an explanation for each particular event in the loop, you have explained the whole. Ex: When Harry knew that he could do the "petronus charm" while he was watching himself getting killed by the dementors. He knew that he could do it because he had already done it.
What is the 5th Paradox (Grandfather Paradox), and how is it resolved?
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