Philosophy Content Quiz 2

"It is not reasoning which engages us to suppose the past resembling the future, and to expect similar effects from causes which are, to appearance similar. This is the proposition which I intended to enforce in the present section."

1) 2) 3)

"We must try to work out an account of the nature of mind which is compatible with the view that man is nothing but a physio-chemical mechanism... what may be called a Materialist or Physicalist account of the mind."

1) Armstrong, The Nature of Mind 2) Beginning of discussion of how Science holds the best clue to discovering the nature of the mind, as it is the only field that allows intellectuals to come to a consensus about controversial matters. • Scientists lean towards a purely physicochemical account of the mind, which is a materialist view. 3) This is significant as it is establishing Armstrong's idea that science holds the best clues to discovering the nature of the mind because unlike religious and moral perspectives, science has the most evidence.

"Now we can say that to be conscience, to have experiences, is simply for something to go on within us apt for the causing of certain forms of behavior? Such an account does not seem to do any justice for the phenomena."

1) Armstrong; The Nature of Mind 2) concludes his argument by coming to an explanation as to how to define what it means to be conscience 3) Says consciousness is an unexplainable, Inner mental state where you perceive physical things outside of yourself and an Inner physical state where you perceive your other inner physical states

"Our explanation of one another's behavior will appeal to such things as our neuropharmalogical states, the neural activity in specialized anatomical areas, and whatever other states are deemed relevant by the new theory."

1) Churchland, Eliminative Materialism 2)This occurs in the middle of the argument in which the idea of folk psychology, the human capacity to explain and predict the behavior and mental state of other people, is refuted. 3) This is significant as it presents the idea that contrary to the idea of folk psychology, neuro science can be used to explain the way in which people perceive the actions of others is based on bodily anatomy and makeup.

"Folk psychology is not just an incomplete representation of our inner natures; it is an outright misrepresentation of our internal states and activities"

1) Churchland, Eliminative Materialism 2) This quote takes place in the beginning of the piece in which Churchland is reviewing Folk Psychology, one of the several different views or theories on the nature of the mind.Ultimately, he advocates Eliminative Materialism and finds the idea of folk psychology to be inaccurate. 3)

"I now know that physical objects are not really known through sensation or imagination, but are grasped by the understanding alone. And, from the fact that physical objects are grasped in virtue of their being understandable (rather than tangible or visible), I infer that I can't know anything more plainly than my mind."

1) Descartes, Meditation II On the Nature of the Human Mind, Which is better known than the Body 2) This is the end of a his 2nd meditation in which he is discussing how using the method of doubt , he arrives at the idea of "I think, therefore I am" and through this statement he concludes that the only things of which he is certain are the contents of his own thoughts. 3) This quote is important as it demonstrates Descartes conclusion that nothing can be known more by an individual than mental understandings within the mind.

"I will suppose, then, not that there is supremely good God who is the source of all truth, but that there is an evil demon, supremely powerful and cunning, who works as hard as he can to deceive me."

1) Descartes, Meditiation 1 2) This occurs toward the end of the argument in which the existence of God is being discussed. 3) This is significant as after analyzing his senses, questions and dreams, and debating the ideology behind a living God, Descartes concludes his reasoning by the existence of an evil demon.

"By the term impression then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will."

1) Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 2) This begins section II in which Hume is making a distinction between ideas and impressions. 3) Impressions are according to Hume, developed by emotions and feelings. This quote is significant as it makes a distinction from ideas, which are what arise when we reflect upon our impressions.

"Doing long division is a mental process and so is making a joke. But I am saying that the phrase 'there occur mental processes' does not mean the same sort of thing as ' there occur physical processes,' and, therefore, that it makes no sense to conjoin or disjoin the two."

1) Ryle, Descarte's Myth 2) This quote is toward the end of the argument in which Ryle is arguing that it is too quickly assumed that the mind and body are separate, naming it a "category-mistake". 3) This is significant as it makes it clear that mental and physical processes tie together at times and therefore should not be assumed to be completely separate from each other.

"I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as 'the dogma of the Ghost in the machine'."

1) Ryle, Dsecartes Myth, The Official Doctrine concerning Decartes 2) Toward the end of this argument discussing Descartes ideas on mind-body dualism and how he does not agree. 3)Ryle's philosophical arguments in his essay "Descartes' Myth" lay out his notion of the mistaken foundations of mind-body dualism conceptions, comprising a suggestion that to speak of mind and body as a substance, as a dualist does, is to commit a Category-mistake.

"Intentionality is by definition that feature of certain mental states by which they are directed at or about objects and states of affairs in this world"

1) Searle, Minds, Brains and Programs 2) This argument is in the middle of the piece in which Searle is defining Intentionality as one of the states of consciousness he believes exists. 3) This is significant as it defines the state of mind of intentionality. It describes this state as one being mental aware and in control of thoughts and actions in this world.

"The point is that the brain's casual capacity to produce intentionality cannot consist in it's instantiating a computer program, since for any program you like it is possible for something to initiate that program and still not have any mental states."

1) Searle, Minds, Brains and Programs 2) This quote is at the end of the piece in which Searle is discussing the processes of the brain and how it is made up several mental states which are all essential to it's function. 3) This quote is significant as it drives home the point that the brain is not like a computer as the brain works by way of mental states where a computer can function without them. This comparison is used to make clear that the brain functions through mental states. Computers do not function through mental states as brains do.