Ch. 5: Introduction to Philosophy of Mind

Question 1

monistic theories

Answer 1

theories that claim there is fundamentally one kind of entity or property, either mental or physical.

Question 2

dualistic theories

Answer 2

theories that claim there are fundamentally two kinds of entities or properties: mental and physical.

Question 3

idealism

Answer 3

a monistic theory that claims that fundamentally everything is mental.

Question 4

physicalism

Answer 4

a monistic theory that claims that fundamentally everything is physical.

Question 5

reductivism

Answer 5

the view that higher level entities, theories, or explanations (such as mental processes) are more fully or accurately described by appeal to the most basic science (i.e., physics).

Question 6

multiple realization

Answer 6

the idea that psychological similarity need not entail physical similarity and that that mental phenomena can therefore be instantiated or realized by a variety of systems.

Question 7

type physicalism

Answer 7

the idea that every mental category corresponds to a physical category

Question 8

token physicalism

Answer 8

the idea that every mental instance corresponds to a physical instance

Question 9

Supervenience

Answer 9

for two sets of characteristics, A and B, to say that A supervenes on B
is to say that things cannot differ in regard to A without also differing in regard to B.

Question 10

functionalism

Answer 10

the idea that mental phenomena should be characterized in terms
of the functional role they play.

Question 11

property dualism

Answer 11

a dualistic theory that claims some entities have two different
types of properties, mental and physical.

Question 12

emergentism

Answer 12

a variety of property dualism that claims mental properties emerge from physical properties and can, in turn, cause physical effects.

Question 13

epiphenomenalism

Answer 13

a variety of property dualism that denies mental properties
can cause physical effects.

Question 14

substance dualism

Answer 14

a dualistic theory that claims there are two different types of
entities, those that have mental properties and those that have physical properties.

Question 15

mental causation

Answer 15

causation by mental entities or states, or the problem of
explaining how such causation can occur.

Question 16

hard problem of consciousness

Answer 16

the problem of explaining our immediate first-person experiences; often contrasted with so-called easy problems of consciousness, problems that consist in developing theories that explain cognitive
processes such as attention, working memory, and so on.

Question 17

Embedded, embodied, extended, and enactive (4E) theories of mind

Answer 17

a family of theories sharing the idea that a viable theory of mind ought not limit
its view to the workings of human brains.

Question 18

Integrated information theory (IIT)

Answer 18

theory according to which consciousness is primarily a function of information integration in a system and can be
mathematically measured by a quantity labeled “Φ.”

Question 19

panpsychism

Answer 19

a dualistic theory that claims the basic constituents of the universe are themselves both mental and physical.