Metaphysics

Question 1

Metaphysics

Answer 1

The branch of philosophy exploring the nature of reality, existence, and what it means for something to “be.”

Question 2

Idealism vs Realism

Answer 2

Idealism holds that reality is mentally constructed, while realism asserts that reality exists independently of the mind.

Question 3

Materialism

Answer 3

The view that only physical matter constitutes reality, with all phenomena, including consciousness, arising from material interactions.

Question 4

Monism vs Dualism

Answer 4

Monism posits that reality consists of one substance (e.g., only physical or only mental), while dualism asserts that there are two distinct substances (typically mind and matter).

Question 5

Substance, Essence, Form

Answer 5

Substance is what something fundamentally is, essence defines its necessary characteristics, and form is its visible or perceivable shape.

Question 6

Laozi and Taoism

Answer 6

Laozi, founder of Taoism, emphasized harmony with the Tao (the Way), a natural order guiding the universe.

Question 7

Martin Heidegger and “Being and Time”

Answer 7

Heidegger’s work explores the concept of “being,” particularly how humans experience and understand existence.

Question 8

Jean-Paul Sartre, WWII Prison, “Being and Nothingness” and “No Exit”

Answer 8

Sartre’s existential philosophy, influenced by WWII, examines freedom, meaning, and responsibility in works like Being and Nothingness and No Exit.

Question 9

Daniel Dennett and the 6 Basic Conditions of Personhood

Answer 9

Dennett suggests six criteria (e.g., rationality, consciousness) that define what makes an individual a “person.”

• Moral agency
• Self-motivated activity
• Verbal communication
• Consciousness + self consciousness
• Rationality

Question 10

John Locke, Personal Identity, and “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”

Answer 10

Locke argued that personal identity is based on continuity of consciousness and memory, discussed in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

Question 11

Stuart Hampshire

Answer 11

Known for his work on mind and ethics, Hampshire examined how moral judgments arise from both reason and emotion.

Question 12

2001: A Space Odyssey and AI

Answer 12

This film explores themes of artificial intelligence, human evolution, and the moral implications of machine consciousness.

Question 13

The Turing Test and Chinese Room

Answer 13

The Turing Test assesses AI’s ability to mimic human thought, while the Chinese Room argues that syntactic processing doesn’t equate to true understanding.

• judge has to talk with an ai and person without being able to see who’s who and figure out which one is a real person