Key concepts

Question 1

What is the main sentiment of eliminative materialism?

Answer 1

• Folk phsychology is inadequate.
• we should talk about mental states based on neuroscience.
• We should eliminate folk psychology from our talk.
• Patricia Churchland uses the example of ‘ego’ to show hoe folk psychology fails us.

Question 2

What are the arguments for EM?

Answer 2

Folk psycholgy is inadequate at explaining:
- Sleep
- Dreaming
- Learning
Folk psychology is stagnant.
Folk psychology doesn’t usually survive once science matures in a particular area.

Question 3

What is the issue with EM concerning the certainty of our own mental states?

Answer 3

• When you look into your own mind, there is unwavering certiainty about its contents.
• it is absurd to say we do not experience these mental properties.

Question 4

What is an eliminativist response to certainty about our own mental states?

Answer 4

• if you ask people is they could feel caloric, they would say yes.
• If you asked people if they felt the bas air, they would say yes.
• We kid ourselves as to how much we believe we feel.
• There’s a presupposition as to the correct way to categorise our mental states.

Question 5

What is the isue with eliminative materialism concerning it’s self-refuting nature?

Answer 5

• Eliminativist materialism claims we cannot have intentional content, as this relates to folk-psychological concepts of ‘beliefs’ and ‘thoughts’. Therefore, claims we make about anything intentional are futile.
• However, elmiminative materialism makes a solid claim that we cannot make claims.
• Therefore, its claim is futile, and it is self-refuting.

Question 6

What did Paul Churchland reply to the argument that EM is self-refuting?

Answer 6

He used the analogy of vitalists.
- Vitalism was an eighteenth century movement dedicated to the belief that ‘vitall spirit’ is what granted living thing life.
- Anti-vitalists claimed that there are alternative accounts of what gives life, and therefore vital spirit may not be real.
- The vitalists claim that the anti-vitalists would be dead if they didn’t believe in vital spirit. However, Chirchland argues this is an ignorant view.

Question 7

What is the counterargument to Churchland’s reply to the issue of self-refutance in EM?

Answer 7

• His analgogy is weak.
• anti-vitalists claim they’re still alive,
  EM’s claim they literally have no intentional content, which would mean they don’t necessarily have a mind.

Question 8

What are the arguments for folk-psychology?

Answer 8

• Good explanatory power (CBT and it is intuitive)
  (Patricia Churchland would argue against this ‘Sleep example,’)
• Endurance: It is stagnant because it is effective.
  Counterarguments:
• it is useful in thought and behaviour, but what about othr neurological processes, it cannot do much.
• Neuroscience explains things more powerfully.