Consciousness Invented Flashcards
When did Rene Descartes live?
1596-1650.
What was Rene Descartes famous as?
A physicist, physiologist, mathematician (Cartesian coordinates) and philosopher.
What was Descartes’ best philosophical idea?
Hyperbolic doubt - can doubt but cannot doubt that he exists Must have basic characteristics of thinking - thinking thing is distinct from body
What were Descartes’ beliefs regarding religion?
He rejected religious authority in the quest of scientific and philosophical knowledge, like the humanists, but he was a devout Catholic
How did Bacon and Descartes disagree on the development of knowledge?
Bacon suggested that induction (something happens and will therefore continue to happen) was an appropriate method for science, but Descartes insisted on a deductive approach.
For Descartes, what three abilities constitute human reason?
Intuition - understand simple nature of a subject Deduction - process of inferring relationships between simple natures Enumeration - review process when errors are made due to misremembering
What is the wax argument?
Used by Descartes to show that knowledge is not always derived from the senses How do we know that solid and melted wax are the same substance?
What is substance dualism?
Proposed by Descartes Mind and body are two distinct substances If two things are distinct and made of different substnaces they can exist separstely - therefore mind and body can exist separately
What are the essential attributes of mental substance and physical substance?
Mental = thought Physical = extension (occupation of physical space)
What is the problem of interaction?
How do the mind and body interact is they exist separately?
What is the ghost in the machone criticism of Descartes?
Descartes belived that thee body and mind are so intimate that they cannot be separated - this is one of God’s miracles
What did Descartes say was unique to humans?
Only humans have dual spirit/body nature
What did Descartes say about animals?
Have bodies but not souls - they are biological automata which behave according to their biological makeup
What did Descartes say about knowledge?
Ideas that appear clear and certain must be innate - cannot be derived from experience
When was John Locke alive?
1632-1704
What was John Locke?
A British empiricist
What important work did Locke write and what does it discuss?
Essay concerning human understanding 1690 Theorises about concepts such as the self and their epistemological basis Four books
What was the first of Locke’s books and what did it state?
Against Innate Ideas That something is innate is a hypothesis which requires empirical support
What were Locke’s arguments against innate ideas?
If propositions are innate, they should be immediately perceived - children and ‘idiots’ do not show evidence of this If propositions are innate, we should all acquire and agree on them - shouldn’t be subjective
What did Locke say about the suggection that innate ideas are dispostional?
Dispositional accounts lack adequate criterion for distinguishing innate propositions from those that the mind derives from experience
What does Locke say about the content of the mind?
Content of mind is acquired through experience - humans are autonomous rational subjects
What does Locke say about faculties?
Knowledge is acquired by faculties (i.e. cognitive functions) are innate