Lecture 1 (Medieval & modern thought) Flashcards
what did saint augustine argue against?
the idea of original sin
solipsism
what is solipsism
cannot prove anything exists beyond your own mind
how was augustine’s views similar to plato’s
perception not source of truth
eternal world superior to sensory
truth can be discovered through reason alone
broadly speaking, what was early medieval christian philosophy
platonic
how did avicenna’s psychology extend aristotle’s
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
how many interior senses did avicenna propose
7
what did thomas acquinas do with aristotle’s philosophy
introduced it into the medieval period
what are a few of aquinas’ beliefs
no innate ideas
knowledge comes from senses
sees mind and body as one
soul is immortal, body is not
what is dualism in the mind-body problem
the mind and body are distinct entities
what is monism in the mind-body problem
there is only one substance
what are examples of descartes’ method of doubt
descartes’ daemon
descartes’ dream
what is the only thing descartes did not doubt
the existence of the self “i think therefore i am”
how did descartes feel about the mind-body problem
dualist: essence of mind is consciousness
essence of body is spatial extension
how did descartes argue the mind was uniquely human
only humans can do math / language
machines can immitate animals, but not humans
what is the interaction problem?
how does the mind and the body interact
how did descartes respond to the interaction problem
mind controls and recieves info from the pineal gland
what is epiphenomenalism
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
what is occasionalism
the idea that mental / physical don’t causally affect one another, god intervenes with each interaction
what is parallelism
god doesn’t interact at each steps, but establishes two parallel tracks, like 2 clocks
what are 3 examples of monism
idealism, materialism, neutral monism
what is idealism
only mental stuff exists
what is materialism
only physical stuff exists, gravity, electromagnetism, strong / weak radiation. everything is a byproduct of these forces
what is neutral monism
mind and body are one substance
what is physicalism
deals with the mind-body problem by rejecting an alternate reality
what is double aspectism
substance has both mental and physical aspects.
see it through senses = matter
see it within ourselves = thought
