Origins And Approaches Flashcards
Mind body relationship
How is the conscious experience(mind) related to neurophysiological process(body)
Problem with mind-body relationship
Thoughts, feelings and sensations seem to be qualitatively different to neurons, chemicals and energy
Dualism
2 fundamentally different types of substance in the world- mental real and physical
René Descartes (1596-1650)
Proposed that interaction between the physical and mental was located in the pineal gland
Mentalism
Everything is a subjective experience. Mind over matter
Nothing is concrete
Epiphenomenalism
Mental states have a non-physical existence
But they don’t have a casual status in relation to physical states
Mental events are associated with physical states but do not cause them
Non- scientific (untestable)
Emergence
Mental states cannot be reduced to physical causes or explained by them
Conscious action
The conscious intention occurs after the event and not before
Evaluation of dualism
Not very parsimonious
Inconsistent with materialist view of science
Difficulty in explaining the interaction between the differing mental and physical realities
Monism
The universe consists of mental events only and the physical events are dependant on the mental events
Materialism
Only physical states are real
The mind body problem will be solved when we understand the physical workings of the nervous system
When did Darwin come up with evolution
1859
Evolution: principle 1
Variation between organisms
Evolution: principle 2
Variation is inherited from parents to offspring
Evolution: principle 3
Struggle for existence
