Scott Hagan

Question 1

Turing Test:

Answer 1

: A method for determining if a machine can exhibit intelligent behaviour
indistinguishable from a human. In the test, a human judge has a conversation with both
a machine and a human without knowing which is which. If the judge cannot reliably tell
the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test, suggesting it
has human-like intelligence

Question 2

Qualia:

Answer 2

Individual features of “what it is like to be”.

Question 3

Subjectivity:

Answer 3

First-person point of view of a subject. Refers to the inherently personal
and individual nature of conscious experience. It highlights how each person’s
consciousness is uniquely their own, shaped by their individual perceptions, thoughts,
feelings, and experiences.

Question 4

Physicalism

Answer 4

Posits that the real world consists solely of the physical world and the
laws of physics are casually closed (all physical events are completely caused by other
physical events).

Question 5

Dualism:

Answer 5

Posits that the real world consists of both a physical and mental world that
mutually affect one another.

Question 6

Epiphenomenalism:

Answer 6

Posits that mental states are the effects, not causes, of physical
processes in the brain.

Question 7

Eliminativism

Answer 7

Asserts that there is no need to explain mental phenomena beyond
understanding cognitive functions.

Question 8

Identity Theory:

Answer 8

Each type of mental state or process is identical to a type of physical
state or process in the brain.

Question 9

Functionalism

Answer 9

Suggests that mental states are solely defined by their functional roles
in cognitive processes.

Question 10

Multiple Realizability:

Answer 10

Functional properties can be realized in all sorts of
alternative ways

Question 11

Chinese Room:

Answer 11

In the experiment, a person who doesn’t understand Chinese follows a
rulebook to manipulate Chinese symbols in response to questions. Although it appears
from the outside that the person understands Chinese, they are merely following rules
without comprehension. This illustrates Searle’s argument that computers, similar to the
person in the room, might simulate understanding through symbol manipulation, but do
not genuinely understand or possess consciousness. It is against functionalism

Question 12

Syntax

Answer 12

A set of rules for constructing or transforming strings of symbols.

Question 13

Semantics

Answer 13

The relation between symbols and what they stand for.

Question 14

Intentionality

Answer 14

Thoughts always refer to or are about something.

Question 15

Fading Qualia

Answer 15

Imagine a scenario where a person’s neurons are gradually replaced by
silicon chips. As the replacement continues, the person’s experiences (qualia) are
supposed to fade, but without any loss in functional ability or behaviour. The experiment
challenges the idea that consciousness can be reduced to physical processes, asking
whether it’s possible for someone to gradually lose their conscious experiences while
still behaving normally. It is against functionalism.

Question 16

Inverted Qualia:

Answer 16

Imagines a scenario where two people experience the same sensory
stimuli (like seeing the colour blue) but have different internal experiences (one actually
experiences what the other would call red). The experiment questions whether it is
possible for people to have different subjective experiences while agreeing on external
descriptions, challenging our understanding of consciousness and perception. It
supports functionalism.

Question 17

Dancing Qualia:

Answer 17

Imagines a scenario where a person’s conscious experiences (qualia)
could be switched on and off rapidly without affecting their behaviour. It challenges the
idea that consciousness is separate from physical brain processes, by questioning
whether it’s plausible for someone’s subjective experience to change dramatically while
their behavior remains unaffected. It supports functionalism.

Question 18

Reductio ad Absurdum:

Answer 18

If the premises of an argument necessarily lead to absurd
consequences, then the premises must be false.

Question 19

Supervenience

Answer 19

A set of properties A is said to supervene on another set B if any
change in A’s properties necessarily requires a change in B’s properties. In other words,
there can’t be a variation in A without also having a variation in B.

Question 20

Casual Closure:

Answer 20

Asserts that physical events are entirely caused by other physical
events, and physical effects have only physical causes.

Question 21

Emergence:

Answer 21

Occurs when a whole is not reducible to its parts and their reducible
inter-relations.