mind-brain type identity theory

Question 1

explain mind-brain type identity theory

Answer 1

• all mental states are reducible to brain states although ‘mental state’ and ‘brain state’ are not synonymous
• mental states are ontologically reducible to brain states
• an ontological reduction occurs when one thing is shown to be the same as another thing e.g. water is the same as H20, likewise a mental state is reducible to a brain state ‘pain is c fibres firing’
• an analytic reduction reduces concepts in one domain to otherconcepts without a loss of meaning - it concerns concepts and language rather than things
• identity theory is an ontological reduction, so it is not saying that mental states and brain states mean the same thing, just that these two terms refer to the same thing in the world
• numerically identical; identical in terms of amount, not qualitatively identical

Question 2

explain the issue for mind-brain type identity theory: dualist arguments applied to mind-brain type identity theory

Answer 2

• dualist arguments (philosophical zombies, knowledge/Mary argument) all say that mental states are irreducible and a complete physical account of the brain could not explain qualia
• Mary: Mary gains new knowledge of colour when she steps out the room despite knowing everything physical there is to know about colour
• zombie: philosophical zombies with no qualia are conceivable, so it is possible that they exist and so qualia must be non-physical knowledge

Question 3

explain the issue for mind-brain type identity theory: issues with providing the type identities (multiple realisability)

Answer 3

• identity theory says that is it not possible for the same type of mental state to be realised by a different type of brain state in different individuals
• in humans, pain can be referred to as c-fibres firing
• but in dogs, pain is d-fibres firing
• does this mean that dogs can’t feel pain? most people would say that their pets can feel pain, as they have seen them yelp when their tail has accidentally been stood on
• but according to this theory animals cannot feel pain because pain is the brain state of c-fibres firing and cannot be anything different
• both dogs and humans have the mental state of pain , but realised in different brain states

Question 4

what are nomological danglers

Answer 4

things in the universe that don’t follow the laws of physics