Dualism Flashcards
What are the main metaphysical issues in Philosophy of Mind? (2)
1) What is the nature of the mind (mental state & ontologically distinct)
2) The relationship between the mental and the physical (What is the relation between them & causation - how can one influence the other?)
What is a mental state?
Emotions, feeling pain, happiness, anger etc. as well as cognitive belief like your belief that it’s raining etc
If I say that the mind is ‘ontologically distinct’ from the body, what do I mean?
It might not be physical in nature, which means we can’t do experiments on it etc, problem for science
What are the 3 main theories for the nature of the mind? + Explain
- Dualism: mind is ontologically distinct from physical body/brain
- Materialism: mind is physical entity
- Idealism: physical world is derivative of mental states (Physical world is product of mind)
Descartes’ book + ain
BOOK: Meditations on First Philosophy
AIM: Establish what we can know with absolute certainty
Summarise Descartes meditations (3)
1) There are 2 fundamentally distinct kinds of substances in the world: mental and physical (+ God)
2) Essence of mental substances is “thinking”
3) Essence of physical substances is spatial extension
What is the latin for thinking?
res cogitas
What is the latin for spatial extension
res extensa
Quote for Descartes on Systematic doubt
“While I was trying to thus think everything false, it was necessary that I, who was thinking this, was something.”
Where is the systematic doubt quote found?
Discourse on Method Part 4
Summary of Descartes systematic doubt
Cogito, ergo sum
I think therefore I am
What 2 inferences does Descartes make from systematic doubt
1) The mind is distinct from the body -> I can imagine myself existing without a body, therefore they must be distinct
2) The soul is easier to know than the body -> I have direct epistemic access to my mental states, but not to external objects. (e.g. If I stub my toe I have knowledge of the mental pain, but not of the actual physicality of the situation)
Explain direct vs indirect knowledge (Descartes)
I have direct awareness of the contents of my mind, but I can only indirectly infer the existence of the physical world around me
Use exam example of indirect vs direct knowledge
I do not directly perceive the exam paper in front of me, I simply perceive my conscious experience of the exam paper
That’s why I can be certain that I have a mind, but can never truly be certain that I have a body
Descartes Properties of mind vs properties of body
MIND: known directly, free, indestructible
BODY: known indirectly, determined by laws of physics, destructible
Define privileged epistemic access
Direct, immediate, certain access to mind
What does Descartes compare the human body to
A hydraulic machine, with the mind being used to power it
What did Descartes infer from the hydraulic machine example and why was this important?
Our bodies are not sacred only the mind is - the body is a question of physics and nothing else
At the time theology was very prominent and bodies were sacred -> not allowed to be used for dissection etc
What is the pineal gland? (3)
- Descartes said it’s the only place where mind and body interact
- Bc it’s a gland that’s in direct contact with the brain ventricles
- He got this bc when dissecting the brain, all is symmetrical apart from this
What is the conceivability argument
A priory argument, explaining that:
- Something that is conceivable is logically possible, and something that is inconceivable is logically impossible
- It is conceivable that someone could exist without a body, therefore this is a logical possibility and the body is not essential to a person.
It is inconceivable that someone could exist without a mind (cogito ergo sum), therefore this is a logical impossibility and the mind is essential to a person
Explain the mind body problem
It is clear that the mind and body interact
e.g. if you step on my toe (a physical act) I will feel pain (a mental act)
But how can something immaterial interact with something material?
Why is the mind-body problem particularly problematic for Descartes?
He adopts a transference account of causation
What are the two responses to the mind-body problem? (and what’s the problem with the responses)
We must either:
1) Accept the notion that there is such a thing as psychic energy (which has never been proven to exist)
2) Deny conservation principles in physics (Which enjoy plenty of empirical support)
BOTH OPTIONS ARE UNAPPEALING TO MODERN SCIENCE
What would be an alternative defence of the mind-body problem?
Take Hume’s regularity account of causation, where one accepts correlations as a basic feature of reality needing no further explanation
