5.1 - The Mysteries of Consciousness

Question 1

Consciousness

Answer 1

Person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind

Question 2

Phenomenology

Answer 2

How things seem to the conscious person; in their understanding of mind and behaviour.

Question 3

What is the “Problem of other Minds”?

Answer 3

The fundamental difficulty we have perceiving the consciousness of other people

Question 4

Mind-Body Problem

Answer 4

The issue of how the mind is related to the body

Question 5

What is, and who came up with the “Seat of the Soul”?

Answer 5

Descartes imagined that the seat of the soul-and consciousness - thought it might reside in the pineal gland located in the ventricles of the brain (it doesn’t!)

Question 6

What was Descartes understanding/definition of Mind-Body?

Answer 6

“The mind is what the brain does” - Descartes

Question 7

Who would rank low on experience, but high on agency?

Answer 7

A baby, a frog, or a monkey

Question 8

Who would low on experience, but medium on agency?

Answer 8

A robot

Question 9

Who would rank high on experience, as well as agency?

Answer 9

An adult or teenager

Question 10

Who would rank medium on experience, but low on agency?

Answer 10

A person in a PVS (Peristent Vegetative State)