lecture 7&8 + chapter 7 Flashcards
What is the mind-body problem and what are the 4 approaches?
How the mind is related to the brain. The 4 approaches are monism, materialism, functionalism, dualism
Materialism
Everything is material. The mind is part of the physical world and obeys the laws of nature. 10 euros is a piece of paper.
Functionalism
The mind is realisedin the brain = mentale processen komen voort uit fysieke werking van brein, but info can be copied to another machine. Input + change = output. Fear of spiders to avoid spiders. 10 euros is 10 euros because you can buy things with it
Descarted and min-body dualism + problem
Body is a machine, mind is not. Therefore 2 entities. Problem: interaction problem
attractivenes of dualism (2 reasons)
- consciousness at center of human functioning: actions are guided by consciousness (which coincides with mind)
- having free will: since consciousness is the center, nothing happens withous approval of the mind.
What conditions for free will
- alternatives: the person must have been able to do otherwise
- origin: the act must originate in the person, not in an external force
- deliberation: the act must be the outcome of rational deliberation and not be erratic or unpredictable
Problems with dualism
- interaction problem: how can nonmaternal entitiy interact with material entity
- causal closure problem: if every physical event has a physical cause (law of energy), where does the mind enter. Does the mind add energy out of nothing? where does body get energy from to buy bagel
- brain damage problem: why would nonmaterial entity react to brain damage. damage to hippocampus impairs memory
- exclusion problem: what is the influence of the mind if brain causes body to move
consequences of materialism
- folk psychology:
- no free will: we are survival machines for our genes
Problems with materialism
- identity problem: How two events can be experiences the same despite the fact that their realisation in the brain differs
- nobody knows how the mind could be a by-product of biological brain processes.
Belief desire psychology
Mental states (to want ice cream) explain behaviour (buying it). Beliefs and desires interact with each other which lead to intentions which lead to behaviour
Reductive materialism
- identity theory: mental states are brain states. i bought ice cream because i had brain state x
- type-type identity: types of brain states are identical across individuals and time points. multiple realisability blocks reductionism because multiple ways to get a thought.
nonreductive materialism
mind and brain are same entitiy. to want ice cream = brain state x for me and brain state x for shaniqua = multiple realizability: a mental state can be realised in many ways. token-token identity: achieve similar mental state through different means. Theory not falsifiable. Identity problem: theory cant explain differences between individuals.
Proof identity theory is wrong
- Neural plasticity: same mental functions can be performed in different ways
- individual differences: brain is heterogeneous, so different brain patterns
Turing machine / test
mind: body = software: hardware
if a turing machine can think a little bit, then a good turing machine might think as humans. Turing test: human interacting with a machine and other human without being able to discriminate machine from human
Problems with functionalism
Het richt zich alleen op mentale toestand, maar niet op de ervaringen zelf
Teleportation in views of dualism, materialism and functionalism
- dualism: separate entities cant be teleported together
- materialism: only when the same brain is reinstalled, the mind would survive
- functionalism: the mind is nothing but the info stored within network of the brain. if the brain is restored the mind will be back too
property dualism
brain and mind or not separated, but brain consists of physical and mental properties. the mental properties are immaterial. = nonreductive materialism
current view on mind-body problem
mental states are connected to brain states, but not identical. Reductionism is implausible. Further research is needed
Different types of consciousness
- acces consciousness: info that can be reported, used for reasoning
- phenomenological consciousness: human experiences have meaning that goed beyond formal report
- semantic priming: prime + target. boy would be recognised easier after girl than after goal
- global workspace model:
The chinese room
you are in a room and receive notes and you have a book that tells you what to respond. the symbols are chinese phrases. youre having a convo in chinese without knowing it. so you dont have consciousness according to Searle. Thus passing turing test may be necessary but not sufficient ground for consciousness. simulating is not the same as realizing.
qualia
subjective conscious experience (of a colour). Thought experiment: mary the colour scientist
Mary the colour scientist
mary grows up in a vlack and white room. she learns everything about colour perception. she sees blue sky for the first time. will she learn something new? yes? then, knowledge about physical processes is not the same as knowledge about subjective experience
What is it like to be a bat - Thomas Nagel
subjective experience / consciousness cant be understood from objective / physical perspective. The essay highlights the limits of reductionism
- a bat perceives the world through echolocation, unlike human perception
- humans can study how it works in a physical sense, but we cant imagine what it feels like
- we cant bridge the cap of what it is like to be a bat
- reductionist leave out the subjective aspect of experience
The hard problem
how is subjective experience possible at all? standard research only deals with the easy pronlem and only investigated which brain processes are connected of which experiences. But the real problem is why do we have subjective experience at all
Cognitive closure hypothesis: Colin mcginn
The structure or our cognition doesnt permit us to comprehend the problem of consciousness
Free will according to Wegner
- a thought appears in consciousness prior to an action
- the thought is consistent with the action
- there is no salient alternative cause of the action
Research of Libet
invesitgated timing of decision vs behaviour. behaviour is already being started before decision in brain is made. no rejections of free will: we prepare for many actions, free will is in the decision to inhibit some of these.
eliminative materialism
deny existence of mental states. Paul churchland: we use common words of mental states, but that will be replaced by physical processes
type type identity
There is a higher order theory (im in love) going to lower order theory (the love hormones increased) via bridge laws (they reduce the higher order theory).
Determinism
physical state of the world at t fully determines the physical world at t+1: there is no free will
