consciousness and dualism

Question 1

basic features and types of consciousness?

Answer 1

features the first-person privilege and it’s a property of mental states that mental states can happen without (e.g. unconscious listening to music)

1. Consciousness as awareness
   • Vigilance; „awake vs. coma
2. Intentional consciousness
   • “believe that p”; “wish that p”
3. Phenomenal Consciousness • Experience what it is like to see a color, to hear a sound, to smell an odor, to experience l a taste, etc.
4. Self-Consciousness: Reflexive consciousness of oneself as one and the same entity over a certain period of time

Question 2

consciousness causally relevant or irrelevant in epiphenomenalism and identity theory

Answer 2

epi: irrelevant
identity: relevant

Question 3

advantages of dualism:

Answer 3

• Psychophysical interaction (but how)
• Homogeneity of the self
• Freedom of the will (also indeterminism)
• „Explanatory Gap“: Two different entities
• Intuitive plausibility

Question 4

Disadvantages of dualism

Answer 4

1. no serious theoretical advantages
2. „Ontologically demanding“
3. Transfer, rather than solution of problems
4. Difficult explanations, since laws and mechanisms are unknown

Question 5

the main difference between monism and dualism?

Answer 5

is a naturalistic explanation (based on our knowledge of natural phenomenon) possible or not .

Question 6

conceptual development from soul to mind to consciousness

Answer 6

soul: cognitive volitional force spiritual and
mind: cognitive, maybe not a substance
consciousness: property

Question 7

functions of the consciousness according to interactionist dualists?

Answer 7

• Volition
• Integration
• Qualitative character