Lecture 1 (Medieval & modern thought)

Question 1

what did saint augustine argue against?

Answer 1

the idea of original sin
solipsism

Question 2

what is solipsism

Answer 2

cannot prove anything exists beyond your own mind

Question 3

how was augustine’s views similar to plato’s

Answer 3

perception not source of truth
eternal world superior to sensory
truth can be discovered through reason alone

Question 4

broadly speaking, what was early medieval christian philosophy

Answer 4

platonic

Question 5

how did avicenna’s psychology extend aristotle’s

Answer 5

we begin by gaining evidence from our senses

then we use this to develop abstract concepts

some things in the world are pure reason and from god

Question 6

how many interior senses did avicenna propose

Answer 6

7

Question 7

what did thomas acquinas do with aristotle’s philosophy

Answer 7

introduced it into the medieval period

Question 8

what are a few of aquinas’ beliefs

Answer 8

no innate ideas

knowledge comes from senses

sees mind and body as one

soul is immortal, body is not

Question 9

what is dualism in the mind-body problem

Answer 9

the mind and body are distinct entities

Question 10

what is monism in the mind-body problem

Answer 10

there is only one substance

Question 11

what are examples of descartes’ method of doubt

Answer 11

descartes’ daemon

descartes’ dream

Question 12

what is the only thing descartes did not doubt

Answer 12

the existence of the self “i think therefore i am”

Question 13

how did descartes feel about the mind-body problem

Answer 13

dualist: essence of mind is consciousness

essence of body is spatial extension

Question 14

how did descartes argue the mind was uniquely human

Answer 14

only humans can do math / language

machines can immitate animals, but not humans

Question 15

what is the interaction problem?

Answer 15

how does the mind and the body interact

Question 16

how did descartes respond to the interaction problem

Answer 16

mind controls and recieves info from the pineal gland

Question 17

what is epiphenomenalism

Answer 17

the idea that mental states are a byproduct of physical processes in the brain

mental states are passive and do not interact with the physical world

Question 18

what is occasionalism

Answer 18

the idea that mental / physical don’t causally affect one another, god intervenes with each interaction

Question 19

what is parallelism

Answer 19

god doesn’t interact at each steps, but establishes two parallel tracks, like 2 clocks

Question 20

what are 3 examples of monism

Answer 20

idealism, materialism, neutral monism

Question 21

what is idealism

Answer 21

only mental stuff exists

Question 22

what is materialism

Answer 22

only physical stuff exists, gravity, electromagnetism, strong / weak radiation. everything is a byproduct of these forces

Question 23

what is neutral monism

Answer 23

mind and body are one substance

Question 24

what is physicalism

Answer 24

deals with the mind-body problem by rejecting an alternate reality

Question 25

what is double aspectism

Answer 25

substance has both mental and physical aspects.

see it through senses = matter

see it within ourselves = thought