intro concepts

Question 1

what are the 6 major areas of philosophy and what are they about?

Answer 1

1. Metaphysics: Reality, existence, human nature (includes philosophy of mind)
2. Epistemology: Knowledge, belief formation, rationality
3. Ethics: Moral principles, actions, virtues
4. Political Philosophy: Justice, rights, the role of the state
5. Aesthetics: Art, beauty
6. Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics

Question 2

what are the 9 subjects within the study of the mind

Answer 2

1. The Mind-Body problem
2. Consciousness
3. Commonsense view Vs. Scientific views
4. Personal Identity
5. Free Will
6. Philosophy of Language: meaning, intentionality, speech acts…
7. Action Theory
8. Artificial Intelligence
9. Philosophical Psychology

Question 3

what were the ancient philosophers concerned with in terms of properties

Answer 3

we have physical attributes such as weight, height, shape that are properties of some “thing” (the body) but we also have properties such as beliefs, emotions that don’t seem to be physical properties of some “thing.”

this leads to the question of what these secondary attributes are of. Body? mind? brain?

Question 4

the ______ of a thing and the thing itself are not _______ _________

Answer 4

the perception of a thing and the thing itself are not equal physically.

(a thought of a tree is not a tree)

Question 5

the perception of something is…

Answer 5

…the mind taking the shape of that thing

a question is raised from this: what IS the mind such that it can do that?

Question 6

what is the question of the mind-body problem

Answer 6

What IS the mind? And how is the mind RELATED to the body? how are they possibly connected

Question 7

We think of ourselves as ______ ______ _____ ______ agents in a world that science tells us consists entirely _____ _____ physical particles. Now, how can we square these two conceptions?”
–John Searle (1984)

Answer 7

We think of ourselves as conscious, free, mindful, rational agents in a world that science tells us consists entirely of mindless, meaningless physical particles. Now, how can we square these two conceptions?”
–John Searle (1984)

Question 8

what is monism

Answer 8

theory that there is only ONE kind of substance (either physical or not–physists and idealist–everything or nothing is physical not both)

Question 9

what is dualism

Answer 9

theory that there are TWO kinds of substances–physical and non

Question 10

what is interactionism

Answer 10

mind and body CAUSALLY interact with one another physicality causes non-physical reactions

Question 11

what is non-interactionism

Answer 11

mind and body are not CAUSALLY related

Question 12

what are the two kinds of dualism

Answer 12

interactionism and non-interactionism