ch. 2: pioneering philosophers of mind Flashcards
Rene Descartes (1595)
French philosopher and mathematician
promoted an interactive dualism between a material body and an immaterial mind (soul): different entities with interactions
Descartes first rule for acquiring knowledge
never accept anything as true unless it it is so clear/distinct in the mind that there is no reason to doubt
Descartes simple natures
the only two properties of physical phenomena that could not be further analyzed or doubted: extension (space occupied by a body) and motion
mechanistic physiology: animal spirits
Descartes’ term for the clear, yellowish liquid that resides in the brains ventricles (now known as cerebrospinal fluid)
flow of fluid impacts how quickly we respond to situations
mechanistic physiology: reflex
sequence in which a specific stimulus from the external world automatically elicits and specific response
interactive dualism
Descartes’ conception of body and mind as two separate entities that interact and influence each other
descartes: pineal gland
sensations from the body were reunified in the pineal gland for presentation to the soul
descartes: passions
the conscious experiences of the commotions of the animal spirits as sensed in the pineal gland
conscious aware of feelings like love, anger, fear, desire
1600s: princess Elizabeth of Bohemia…
conducted an extensive correspondence with Descartes
Descartes letters to Elizabeth on how a material body could interact wit an immaterial mind became the basis of his treatise on the Passions of the Soul
who was John Locke?
an english philosopher, physician, and contemporary of Gottfried Leibniz
published an Essay Concerning Human Understanding
what was Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding about?
argued that the mind was a blank state at birth and we gain knowledge from experience (empiricism)
criticisms: are we born with instincts like fear or do we learn them?
what are the two kinds of experiences presented by Locke?
sensations of objects in the external world
reflections of the mind’s own operations
combination of the two experiences of Locke (sensations and reflections) led to:
simple ideas: ideas based on earliest sensations and reflections in infants
complex ideas: ideas produced when simple ideas are combined by the mind
William Molyneux challenged Locke by…
Locke challenged it by…
questioning whether a congenitally blind person, suddenly granted sight, would be able to visually distinguish a cube from a sphere
Locke responded in the negative
Locke’s intuitive knowledge
immediate and irresistible perceptions, such as the different between black and white
Locke’s demonstrative knowledge
knowledge attained by stepwise logical deduction (gain knowledge from what is modeled to us)
Locke’s sensitive knowledge
aspects of knowledge that depend on the particular patterns of sensory experiences one happens to have with objects in the world
who was Gottfried Leibniz
German philosopher and contemporary of John Locke
proposed a system for understanding the world as composed of dynamic units called monads
what are Monads (Leibniz)
ultimate, dynamic units of reality
contains energies and forces of purposive and lawful changes with some capacity for awareness of its activity
arranged into a hierarchy of 4 classes
bare monads
units that possess only a faint level of awareness; when collected together in large quantities, they make up material objects
sentient monads
units capable of sensation, perception, and memory
when part of a physical body, they comprise the souls of living yet still being nonhuman organisms
rational monads
units that are part of the conscious soul/mind
capable of apperception: how we register/process ideas ; allows us to make sense of ideas
Supreme monads
unit at the top of Leibniz’s hierarchy that controls and contains everything else in the universe; equated with God
Sophie the Countess Palatine
youngest sister of Descartes’s intellectual friend Elizabeth of Bohemia
friend and supporter of Leibniz
Sophie Charlotte
daughter of Sophie the Countess Palatine
friend and supporter of Leibniz
Leibniz counter argument to Locke
Leibniz was impressed with the idea but did NOT agree that the mind was a blank slate.
Rather it is like a veined slab of marble that can be more easily sculpted in some areas more than others
