Key Terms

Question 1

Soul?

Answer 1

Often understood to be the non-physical essence of a person.

Question 2

Consciousness?

Answer 2

Awareness or perception.

Question 3

Substance?

Answer 3

A subject which has different properties attributed to it.

Question 4

Dualism?

Answer 4

The belief that reality can be divided into two distinct parts, such as good and evil, or physical and non-physical.

Question 5

Scepticism?

Answer 5

A questioning approach which doesn’t take assumptions for granted.

Question 6

Materialism?

Answer 6

The belief that only physical matter exists, and that the mind can be explained in physical terms as chemical activity in the brain.

Question 7

Reductive materialism?

Answer 7

Known as the identity theory - the view that mental events are identical with physical occurrences in the brain.

Question 8

Category error?

Answer 8

A problem of language that arises when things are talked about as if they belong to one category when they belong to another.