Material Mind Flashcards

1
Q

Mind and Body Problem

A

Problem of understanding the relationship between the mind and body is
Example:
If the mind and the body are seperate

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2
Q

Dualism

A

Human mind and body are seperate, two things operating

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3
Q

Substance Dualism

A

Is Cartesian Dualism, named after Descartes
- Mind isn’t brain
- Mind exists as a seperate substance from body, composed of different substances

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4
Q

Two types of substances:

A

Non-physical/immaterial (mind and soul)
Physical/material (bodies and brain)

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5
Q

Non-physical

A

How do you weigh or measure a soul?

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6
Q

Physical

A

Can be weighed and measured

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7
Q

Descartes Arguments:

A
  • Mind and body are different substances
  • Mind is immaterial and certain therefore cannot be changed, degraded or destroyed
  • Mind and body causally interact with one another
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8
Q

1st Meditation:

A

Senses are not trustworthy, and senses are bodily therefore it’s subject to change and deception and the mind does not change.
- Cannot be certain we have a body

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9
Q

2nd Meditation:

A
  • One thing certain - My Mind!
  • “I think therefore I am”
  • We are a thinking thing
  • I can conceive myself without a body
  • Mind knows better than senses (body), a doctor might know your body better then you but never your mind
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10
Q

Wax analogy

A

Wax is put next to a fire, it loses it’s shape, colour, smell and taste. Does the same wax remain? Yes. Despite what we had perceived through our senses the wax is still wax and we know that.
- We know our surroundings through reason, the mind is better known then the human body.

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11
Q

6th Meditation P1

A

P1: I can be sure I have a mind
P2: I cannot be totally sure that I have a body
C: Therefore, mind and body are two different substances

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12
Q

6th Meditation P2

A

P1: Mind is permeant and unchanging
P2: Physical things are always degrading
C: Therefore mind is not physical but must be a non-degrading substance

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13
Q

6th Meditation P3

A

P1: Ideas in mind resulted from physical behaviour
P2: Physical experiences that produce ideas in mind
C: Mind and body must interact with each other

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14
Q

Materialism/Physicalism

A

Belief that everything is physical, just a physical body of which the mind is an aspect of located or identical to the brain

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15
Q

Problem for Descartes:

A

Mind and body are two different substances, therefore how can they work together?

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16
Q

‘Out of Body’ Experiences

A

Evidence for substance dualism. Experiences that involve sensations of floating above the ground

17
Q

Armstrong’s Identity Theory of Mind

A
  • Mind identical to the brain
  • All there is to us is chemical reactions
    “Purely physico-chemical terms”
    WE HAVE NO GOOD REASON TO DISAGREE TO THE SCIENTIFIC VIEW THAT OUR BRAIN IS OUR MIND
18
Q

Armstrong’s Overall Argument

A

P1: Mental states are the inner causes of behaviour
P2: The inner causes of behaviour are brain states and processes
C: Therefore, mental states are identical with brain states and processes
C: Therefore, materialism must be correct

19
Q

Traditional Behaviourism

A

The mind is not something behind behaviour, but simply part of the behaviour

20
Q

Disposition

A

Something likely to happen
Eg. If we dropped a fragile glass we assume it will break because in other experiences glasses have a habit of breaking
- We think in a certain way to behave in a certain way

21
Q

Problem of Consciousness

A

Theory of mind doesn’t explain consciousness
IS nothing but perception or awareness of the state of our own mind

22
Q

Qualia

A
  • Challenge for materialists
  • “What it’s likeness”
  • Is the subjective qualities of our conscious experience
  • What makes us, us and different from other people
  • Minds are objective
23
Q

What it’s like to be a bat?

A

I don’t know what it’s like to be a bat and never will as I am only me.
Elements of our mental minds are impossible to access through science technology

24
Q

Knowledge Argument

A
  • Unphysical properties can’t explain mental facts such as an itch or being bored
    Mary knows everything there is about the physical properties of colour, but has never seen colour, when she leaves the room she will obtain new experiences of colour.
    Qualia must exist if Mary learns something when she experiences colour first hand
25
Q

Turning Test

A

A person, Lucy, is communicating on a computer to two other supposed people. In room A there is a person at the computer and in room B there is just a computer running a person like program. If Lucy cannot differentiate between the two that must mean machines can think

26
Q

Theological Objection to Turning Test

A

Thinking only occurs when we have been bestowed by God. God would never give a machine an immortal soul
Reply:
God could decide to give one to a machine

27
Q

Disabilities Objection to Turning Test

A

A computer can’t do things that humans can such as enjoy strawberries and cream, fall in love, make mistakes.
Reply:
This is prejudice. In the future it might be possible for a machine to experience these

28
Q

The Chinese Room Argument

A

Against the idea computer’s could think.
There’s a room with a person inside who interprets messages in Chinese characters that are slid under the door. He doesn’t know that they are Chinese but decipher’s them using a manual and responds to the message. He doesn’t understand Chinese at all but is simply interpreting it
- Computer don’t create meaning to words like humans do

29
Q

Monism

A

View that mind and body are one thing

30
Q

Ontology

A

Existence, determining what we know exists

31
Q

Behaviourism

A

Behaviour aquired through conditioning

32
Q

Immaterialism

A

Physical things have no objective existence