Phil Final
3. What is the difference between numerical identity and qualitative identity, and why might it matter for theories of personal identity?
Numerical identity - two objects are one and the same Qualitative identity - two objects share the same properties
16. What is the objection to identity theory sometimes referred to as carbon chauvinism?
Our brains can only do what they do with brains, not something like silicone P1: If our minds are just material systems obeying natural laws, then it is physically possible that the brain's "programming" could be instantiated in some other kind of system, say a silicone based one. (Lewis' Pained Martian, Putnam's Conscious Computer—p. 108, 109)P2: The identity theory states that a mind is a brain.C: So the identity theory is not complete by itself; Other "hardware" could do the same work. Having a carbon based brain is not necessary for having a mind.
12. Explore the notion that it might be hard to truly imagine a mind existing without a body. (possible essay question)
Physical objects can be easily imagined with no consciousness But what does a consciousness look like with no physical housing You can imagine physical objects with no consciousness but it's almost impossible to imagine consciousness without an agent to house it.
34. How might one respond to the claim we are all hardwired to be egoists? (possible essay question)
Psychological egoism: We can't help but act in our own self interest. To act voluntarily, to act on a desire, just is to act in our own self-interest. We can't help but be selfish If psychological egoism is true, then we might as well all adopt ethical egoism, because a moral theory should only ask of us what's possible
2. What are some of the complications of the Soul Theory of identity?
Soul Theory = Identical persons are those with identical souls How would you know if your soul switched How would you know a soul from another
57. What was the point of the slide showing Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
Technology won't always lead you to a meaningful life... The good life, what does technology have to do with that? Life is different, but is it overall better. With technology it can be hard to live a meaningful life. Example: technology/media makes us feel more alone and isolated than we really are,
51. What distinguishes and Ethics of Care from all the other moral theories we examined?
it doesn't offer a decision procedure for how to solve ethical problems. Unless further developed, knowing we should factor our commitments and relationships into our ethical decisions does not by itself tell us what to do
15. What are some of the virtues of the identity theory?
we have no evidence the mind survives after death it doesn't make up non detectable mental substance Compared to Cartesian dualism,a simpler and more conservative theory because a) it doesn't assume the existence of a mysterious non-detectable mental "substance" (supernatural stuff), and it fits well with existing scientific theory and methods of studying cognition. Consistent with the fact that we have no solid evidence that the mind survives the death of the brain.
50. What was the central empirical claim of Gilligan's regarding gender differences in moral decision making?
when faced with moral decisions or dilemmas, mne tend to think about rights and responsibilities. Women tend to think about compassion and care, about who is involved. Men want justice to be served, women care more about preserving and nurturing relationships (thought not at the expense of justice)
23. What is panpsychism as a theory of the mind, and what is one of its possible virtues?
Not every physical thing has consciousness, but every physical thing, down to the subatomic level, has mental properties.
54. Understand the argument for how judging your virtues might collapse virtue ethics back into an ethics of duty.
- Having a virtue just is being disposed to act in certain way, the only way to determine whether one has a certain virtue is too see how they act- But if all judgements of virtue rest on judgments of action, we can't use virtue to judge to worth of your actions, since we're already determining whether you are virtuous by how you act- But that puts us squarely back in to the realm of judging actions and whether you are acting on your moral duties. -Morality requires virtue. But virtue is judged by actions. So maybe being virtuous and acting out of a sense of duty are two sides of the same coin?
41. What is the difference between a categorical and hypothetical imperative?
- Hypothetical imperatives demand you do certain things only if there is a certain end or goal you desire. For example, if you want to be a good student, study diligently.- A categorical imperative is one that must be obeyed under any circumstances. For Kant, moral principles are categorical imperatives, hence his moral theory has come to called the "categorical imperative."
45.What are some of the main problems for Kant's duty based theory of ethics?
- Problem 1: Isn't it possible that some people would be willing to have everyone act on certain principles that are clearly wrong? E.g., only white men should ever be allowed to be President.-Problem 2: Are there really any "perfect duties", ones that admit of no exceptions? You may break a promise to meet a friend to stop and assist at a roadside accident. You may feel that killing one innocent person if it saves the lives of many more innocent people is justified.
31. What are some of the possible "virtues" of cultural relativism? What is the main drawback?
- Promotes tolerance and acceptance of differences, leading to more empathy and compassion. Diffuses belief in the superiority of one's way of doing things.- Counteracts black and white thinking, us vs. them. Good antidote to ethnocentrism. Encourages us to try to understand a culture's beliefs and practices from within that culture's point of view
47.What are the three main principles of a just society Rawls thinks people would agree to when constructing a social contract from behind a veil of ignorance?
- The principle of equal liberty: Each person has an equal right to the most extensive basic liberties compatible with similar liberties for all. "Lexically prior" to (2)- The principle of fair equality of opportunity: Offices and positions are to be open to all under conditions of fair equality and opportunity. "Lexically prior" to (3)- The difference principle: Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons.
48. What basic fact about how we make moral judgments in everyday life do all the theories considered so far seem to ignore?
- Utilitarian and Kantian approaches to ethics both emphasize impartiality in cranking out moral decisions, making them blind to any special obligations to caring relationships. Rawls' Veil of Ignorance makes the same assumptions.- Shouldn't we prioritize family and loved ones in our moral lives? Don't parents have special obligations to their children over obligations to others, in addition to maximizing the general good or carrying out their duties to society in general? Isn't going for totally impartiality, wrong?
26. Explain sociobiology's approach to normative ethics, and describe the fallacy most philosophers believe it commits. (possible essay question)
-Assumption behind sociobiology view on normative ethics: An understanding of why people do in fact behave the way they do yields a theory about how they SHOULD behave-Naturalistic fallacy - assuming we can derive an OUGHT from and IS. (Just because something is the case doesn't mean it should be the case)
25. What is the difference between normative ethics, and descriptive ethics?
-Descriptive Ethics: Describing the principles that people in fact, do use, to make moral judgments.Sciences like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The researcher is "neutral." Describes what IS the case.-Normative Ethics: The study of how people SHOULD make ethical decisions, regardless of how they actually make them. An attempt to come up with a theory of what actually makes an act right or wrong. A prescriptive task. Describes what OUGHT to be the case.This is what philosophers specialize in
4. What are some of the complications of grounding personal identity in a Memory Theory of Personal Identity?
-Your Experience is different than what might have happened -memory loss -Your physical body is always changing -Implies permanent loss of self at death, unless that body can be resurrected
9. Be able to explain the self not as a "thing", but a self-organizing process.
-Your brain is a computer running a program -Functionalism: Mental states are functional states. Minds are (like) computer programs. The mind is to the brain as software is to its hardware. Your mind is the software that is running on your brain -It's not about the "stuff" (soul, brain, mind, whatever it is) that comprises you, but a state of being or a set of properties that emerge from that stuff.-Your "Self" = Your "Narrative"
*6. What are the two "nuclear options" for dealing with doubts about the continuity or very existence of the self, one expressed by Hume, the other Heraclitus? (ESSAY POSSIBILITY)
1. Giving up the cherish belief in self (Everything is constantly changing, there is nothing for your thoughts or your mind to belong to) 2. I'm not the same person. Continuity of the self is a myth. "No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man"
35. What are the two main criticisms we covered regarding considering ethical egoism as a MORAL theory?
1.As an "ethical" theory it would seem to condone evil acts so long as they are in the egoist's best interest.2. You can't preach what you practice. Ethical theories are generally regarded on principles of equality, that equals deserve equal treatment. But it is not in the egoist's interest to try to universalize her theory. The clever egoist will not openly act like one, and will encourage others to act altruistically.
Substance Dualism
: Reality contains both material and immaterial things. The Mind is immaterial.
*19. What was the standard version of the original Turing test, and what was it designed to show?
A person and a computer both answer written questions to try and convince the interrogator they are both humans. The "standard interpretation" of the Turing Test, in which player C, the interrogator, is given the task of trying to determine which player - A or B - is a computer and which is a human. The interrogator is limited to using the responses to written questions to make the determination.
55. Understand what Max meant by saying "humans have a history because of technology".
Animals have no "history" in the sense that humans do. They adapt to their environment, or parish.The story of humanity is the story of changing our environment, which is the story of technology
33. What is the difference between psychological egoism (hedonism) and ethical egoism?
As an "ethical" theory it would seem to condone evil acts so long as they are in the egoist's best interest. So, psychological egoism is either not interestingly true by definition (voluntary acts = selfish acts), or it is interestingly false (people do in fact act against their own happiness. Indeed, sometimes to the point of sacrificing their lives.)
13. What was the argument made in the reading that the Bible does not appear to promote Cartesian dualism, despite it being the most popular view among Christians today? What view of the mind and body do the authors of your textbook claim the Bible actually promotes? (possible essay question)
Bible says that people are basically a soul which can be seperated from the body It promotes non-dualistic soul-body unity Find the passages that clearly separate the mind/soul from the body, claiming that a person is essentially a soul, and can exist apart from their body. Most Biblical scholars agree that the Biblical picture of a person is non-dualistic, soul-body unity.
37. What were some of the metrics Bentham felt should be taken into consideration in employing his "hedonic calculus"?
Bentham "hedonic calculus" : The happiness produced by different kinds of actions can differ only in degree, not kind. So happiness from playing chess is not inherently better than from getting drunk. Let's just measure how much overall happiness might be derived from any particular action-Metrics that should be considered:•Intensity•Duration•Probability•Propinquity (nearness in time)•Fecundity (probability it will producemore happiness in the future)
32. What is one possible way to resolve the problem presented by cultural relativism? (covered in the readings)- Cultural practices are not the same thing as moral judgments. We need to understand the larger context within which the practice occurs.
Cross-cultural moral disagreement may not lie in moral principles, but in the factual beliefs.Moral standard + Factual Beliefs = Moral Judgment.Perhaps everyone believes equals should be treated equally, but we disagree on what constitutes being an equal. What differs are our views about the nature of reality, not the nature of morality
10. Be able to explain Descartes' inconceivability and indivisibility arguments against the mind being the body, and the objections we considered in class.
Descartes says minds and bodies are indivisible It doesn't mean they are separate from bodies An attribute is essential to something if it can't exist without it mind is essential to body If minds=bodies then they must have the same attributes, but they don't Even if Descartes is right and minds are indivisible, it doesn't follow necessarily that they are independent from bodies and can exist apart from them.An attribute is essential to something if and only if it's inconceivable that the thing exists without it.2) It is conceivable for me to exist and not have a body.3) Therefore my body is not essential to me.4) It is inconceivable for me to exist and not have a mind.5) Therefore my mind is essential to me 1. If minds are identical to bodies, then whatever is true of minds is true of bodies, and vice versa. 2. Minds are indivisible and bodies are divisible. 3. Therefore, minds are not identical to bodies
8.What is Sidney Shoemaker's example involving "Brownson" supposed to show regarding a revised body theory of identity?
Do we need your whole body, or just your brain to have it be you? The brain after all is the organ of thought. Sidney Shoemaker's thought experiment: Mr. Brown's brain gets put in the skull/body of Mr. Robinson, creating "Brownson". Mr. Brown's body doesn't survive. Upon waking up, Brownson see's Brown's body:
27. Explain emotivism, and the theory of meaning that generated it. What are the standard criticisms of this theory?
Emotivism: The doctrine that moral utterances are simply expressions of emotions, and have no truth value, for they are not making any real claims about the world.For example, saying cheating on a test is wrong is actually equivalent to saying, "Cheating? Boo!!Criticism - Emotivism can't account for any real moral disagreements, which flies in the face of common sense. Saying Hitler was wrong to murder 6 million Jews means more than simply saying, "Hitler—boo!!"
14. What is the problem of interaction that a Cartesian dualist faces, and how do epiphenomenalism propose to solve it?
Epiphenomenalism -the mind is caused by the brain How can something imaterial interact with something material How can an immaterial mind interact with a material brain/body? Answers that appeal to any biochemical processes, like neurotransmitters, electromagnetism, "energy", etc, just push the question back one step, for all of those things are still on the matter side of the divide. For example, how does the immaterial mind cause neurotransmitters to fluctuate? Epiphenomenalism - The mind arises out of, and is cause by, the brain. It is merely an ineffective by product of physical processes
40. What is the difference between a teleological moral theory and a deontological moral theory?
Even if an action does not turn out the way you planned, it can still be morally right. Its rightness is determined before and independent of its consequences (Deontological).
49. What was Gilligan's critique of Kohlberg's research on the stages of moral development?
Gilligan was a developmental psychologist and colleague who claimed that women tend to make ethical decisions differently (Kohlberg's system was based entirely off interviews with boys and men)
1. What leads David Hume to doubt the existence of a self?
He always percieves and never does anything else
20. Explain Searle's Chinese Room thought experiment, and how it was supposed to cast doubt on the validity of the Turing test. (possible essay question)
If you gave a person or machine a book of strict rules of how to answer people speaking Chinese well enough to trick them, the person or machine still doesn't speak chinese A person (or machine) in the room with a very detailed rule book could successfully imitate speaking and understanding Chinese enough to fool real speakers of Chinese, but we would NOT say the being in the room speaks Chinese. The being is manipulating symbols solely on the basis of their physical features or forms (rules for syntax), but not on the basis of their meaning.
29. What are some of the "bizarre consequences" of Individual Relativism?
Individual Relativism: Nothing is absolutely right or wrong, it depends on the individual. Whenever someone says an action is right, what that means is, it is right for her.Bizarre consequences - * You can never be wrong, you are morally infallible by definition * You make an action right (for you) simply by agreeing with it.* Moral disagreement is reduced to persuasion and matters of opinion, nothing objective.* Taken to its logical conclusion, it leads to judgments no one would accept. E.g. If Hitler thought what murdering Jews was right, then (for him) it was right.
30. What is the basic difference between individual and cultural relativism?
Individual is your personal thoughts and cultural relativism is what you learn through the people around you and where you are from.
56. Explain the idea that technology may not give you more choices, just different choices, using examples not given in the lecture. (possible essay question)
It expands your choices but at the same time it also limits your choices, for example you don't have to talk to someone face to face, or you no longer have to write a letter, but you are forced to know the time or not be able to live in a world without a computer or even a visa
24. What is the double aspect theory of the mental states, and what makes it different from all the other theories we considered? (possible essay question)
Mental and physical properties are under two different "aspects" of a single underlying substance that's neither physical nor mental. Viewed one way, it appears mental, viewed another, it appears physical.
22. What is the emergent materialism theory of the mind, and how does it differ from Cartesian dualism? What is one of its virtues?
Mental properties are emergent properties that arise out of sufficiently complex physical properties, but aren't reducible to those properties.
18. What is functionalism, and what are some of its virtues?
Mental states are functional states, basically different computer programs running on your brain Functionalism: Mental states are functional states. Minds are (like) computer programs. The mind is to the brain as software is to its hardware. Your mind is the software that is running on your brain
Idealism
The mind is not simply matter : The mind (maybe all of reality) is not made of, or reducible to, matter. Remember Berkeley.
Materialism
The mind is simply a result of physical things and processes : The mind (and all of reality) consists ultimately of physical things and processes. The mind is reducible to the material world. Ultimately, all mental processes are identical to certain physical processes.
*17. Use Gilbert Ryle's notion of a "category mistake" to critique the notion that the "mind" being something over and beyond all of the various mental properties we already talk about, such as thoughts and feelings and sensations. (possible essay question)
The mind isn't something in addition to all the mental functions we already have. Is wanting to talk about the mind as something that exists in addition to all the various mental functions we already talk about, a "category mistake"
59. Understand Pang's concept of the monkey mind, and how media technology caters to it. (possible essay question)
The monkey mind - leaps about and never stays in one place, undisciplined and jittery, distracted easily. Not controlled
21. What do philosophers mean by the "intentionality" of mental states, and which theory of mind is especially lacking in accounting for it?
There is only physical process, no mental states Everything that exists is just physical process. There's no mental states. To talk of mental states is to talk of nothing at all; just like it used to be thought that demons cause illness. This is false, just from experience, there's mental states.
46. Give a detailed explanation of Rawl's "veil of ignorance" thought experiment, and what it was designed to show. (possible essay question)
The parties to the social contract are in an original position of being behind a "veil of ignorance" with regards to their natures or position in society.•This means they are bargaining on a social contract for how to set up society, while not knowing anything about who they will be in terms of their race, age, sex, religion, social position, income, sexual orientation, talents, abilities, physical aptitudes, health, etc.•So, Bargain on the assumption that for all you know, you will come into the world poor, or part of a historically underprivileged group, handicapped, with one parent, few talents, limited IQ, etc.
36. What is traditional utilitarianism (act-utilitarianism)?
The right action is one that maximizes happiness for everyone a affected by the act. Basic intuition: Seek to maximize the total amount of good or happiness in the world.
Property Dualism:
There are both physical properties and mental properties The mind comes from the brain but is more than the sum of its parts The Mind arises from the brain, but is not identical to the brain, for it has irreducible properties that aren't physical properties
42. Describe the two thought experiments that lead to Kant's first formulation of the categorical imperative.
Thought experiment 1:To determine whether a particular action is moral, imagine what the world would be like if everyone acted on that principle. If such a world is conceivable, and you would be willing to live in it, then it is morally permissible to act on that principle. (This isuniversalizability)- Thought experiment 2: Put yourself in the other person's shoes and decide whether you would let them to you what you are about to do to them. If not, refrain from performing the action. (This is reversibility)—like the golden rule, except focuses on the principle in question, not the people involved.
43. What are Kant's two formulations of the categorial imperative?
Universalizable:Everyone can act on the principle. (e.g. can't universalize a principle such as, "borrow money on the basis of a false promise whenever you need it.")Reversible: You would be willing to have everyone act on it. (similar to the "golden rule"—do unto others as you would have them do unto you. )
58. What did Max mean by making the claim that this could also be characterized as the age of missing information? Illustrate with your own examples. (possible essay question)
Today's world you can look up and learn anything you want to on google, but information does not = knowledge. Our ancestors have known tons of things that we have lost, like farming. There's so much nonsense out there like sports scores & social media, so what knowledge is most worth having. Or are we just taking in the wrong information. Unhealth
52. What problems do we run into when we try to apply the concept of being a virtuous person to Utilitarianism or Kantianism?
Utilitarianism- For act-utilitarianism, a virtuous person would be one who always tries to maximize happiness- we lose the distinction between doing one's moral duty, and going above and beyond what's required. - So can't look to consequentialism for guidance on virtues, as it clashes with our moral intuitions about what a moral life requires. Requires too much self- sacrifice. Kantianism- In obeying the categorical imperative, Kantianism requires us to always act out of a sense of duty. But that isn't always enough - A virtuous person will perform her duties, but not simply out of a sense of duty, but also for reasons of love, empathy, and compassion.
60. What is the Extended Mind Thesis?
You use your mind and body to do a certain task like typing on a computer or riding a bike but your mind isn't focused on the functionality of doing those things it just does it.