4. Consciousness, Dualism

Question 1

Monism

Answer 1

naturalistic explanation of the mind is possible on its own

Question 2

Dualism

Answer 2

purely naturalistic explanation of the mind is impossible

Question 3

Naturalistic Explanation

Answer 3

in terms of knowledge about natural phenomena

Question 4

Why is the historical background of philosophy of mind important?

Answer 4

reminds us that our current understanding will probably be improved on in the future.

Question 5

first appearances of the idea of the soul

Answer 5

Already in ancient cultural documents as far back as caves paintings (caves of Lascaux 15000BC) and in non-european cultures

Question 6

Typical ideas of the soul

Answer 6

transcendental origin
substance independent of the body
underlies cognitive abilities
underlies idea of immortality
soul as a bird, homunculus (typically material)
body’s vitalizing principle (often as breeze/breath – Geist Atman Psyche Spiritus)
**extremely rational given the info available to the cultures bc it explained many abilities

Question 7

Rationale for the soul

Answer 7

divine act of creation: adequately explains origin of life.

no previous way to rationally explain things like language

Question 8

Mind

Answer 8

may not be a substance and could be immaterial. Focuses on cognitive abilities

Question 9

Consciousness

Answer 9

property rather than substance. avoids limitations of dualistics theories because it can be a property of a material brain.
focuses on particular quality of cognitive abilities
entails knowledge (*justified true belief) of mental states

Question 10

Decisive

Answer 10

Continuous differentiation

Question 11

Received View of Consciousness

Answer 11

Mental abilities like external objects: “the” soul, “the” mind, “the” self, “the” will

Question 12

Hiden assumption of the Received View of Consciousness

Answer 12

mental abilities exist in addition to bodily neural processes. However, this is an unjustified decision in favor of dualism.

Question 13

Alternative View of Consciousness

Answer 13

Consciousness is a property
No non-circular definitions – one’s own experience is required for understanding.
particular feature: privileged first-person experience

Question 14

Consciousness

Answer 14

property of states. implies privileged first person experience. enables us to report/remember its contents without further inferences and to use knowledge that is so far unconnected to the present problem.
potentially conscious states are mental states

Question 15

Consciousness as awareness

Answer 15

Vigilance

Question 16

Intentional consciousness

Answer 16

conscious belief in something. “Rome is a beautiful city” “I really want some ice cream”

Question 17

phenomenal consciousness

Answer 17

experience of what it is like to see a color, smell a coffee, hear a bird,etc

Question 18

self consciousness

Answer 18

reflexive consciousness of oneself as one and the same entity over a certain period of time

Question 19

Consciousnesses as…

Answer 19

awareness, internal, phenomenal, self

can be co-instated

Question 20

Problems with distinguishing physical & non-physical

Answer 20

“definitions of mental state” - physical exception
“no extension” but point particles
“penetration of solid objects” - neutrinos
“another sort of matter” - black holes

Question 21

“The Physical”

Answer 21

Present physics. (but this changes)
Final physics (but is this all-inclusive? does it also include mental states?)
Alternative: not subject to privileged first-person experience

Question 22

Dualism

Answer 22

two different processes that may occur independently

Question 23

Monism

Answer 23

one kind of process only and consciousness is therefore a brain process.

Question 24

Types of Dualism

Answer 24

Interactionst: two difference substances/properties/processes with a mutual interaction
Epiphenomenalism: two different properties/processes, but there is a one-way dependency

Question 25

Types of Monism

Answer 25

Radical Materialism: “nothing but the physical exists/matters. Mental states don’t matter
Identity Theory: Mental states ARE physical states, so the mental states must be described.