PHL 100

What objections to eliminative materialism does Churchland discuss?

1. Introspection reveals mental states 2. Eliminative materialism requires mental state to understand. 3. EM exaggerates shortcomings of folk psychology

Know the premises and conclusion of Jackson's argument.

(1) If physicalism is true, then Mary learns nothing upon her release (2) But Mary does learn something new upon her release. -Therefore (3) Physicalism is false

What is Hume skeptical about?

Hume asserted that all knowledge is derived from the senses. ... He also espoused skepticism, which is the belief that true knowledge is unattainable.

What is Ryle's solution to this problem?

· The official doctrine rests on a category mistake namely, that minds and bodies exist in the same sense. · Category mistake: put something wrong in the wrong category and you misunderstand what you did. Ex: college of nursing, but its not the university. · Minds exist but not in the same way that bodies do.

Know the premises and conclusion of Berkeley's argument against matter.

(1) Matter is not an idea or a collection of ideas. (2) An idea cannot resemble a non-idea. -Therefore (3) Matter does not resemble any idea. -Therefore (4) Matter is invisible, inaudible, un-touchable, etc. -Therefore (5) We have no reason to believe in invisible, inaudible, un-touchable, etc. things. -Therefore We have no reason to believe in matter

According to Hume, what relation is there between impressions and ideas?

Impression are distinguished from ideas, which are less lively perceptions, of which we are conscious, when we reflect on any of those sensations or movements.

According to Hume, what are impressions, and what are ideas?

Impressions: perceptions which are involuntary, forceful, and lively. Ideas: perceptions which are less lively, less forceful, and voluntary. Do not come directly through the senses some ideas are imperfect copies of impressions.

What is induction?

The conclusion of inductive arguments is not certain.

Know the premises and conclusion of Berkeley's argument for God's existence.

(1) Ideas must be in a mind. (2) Not all ideas are produced by my mind. -Therefore (3) Some ideas are produced by another mind. (4) Some ideas are infinitely greater than the ideas I produce. -Therefore (5) Some ideas are produced by an infinites mind. -Therefore (6) God produces sensible ideas

Know the premises and conclusion of Berkeley's master argument.

(1) In order to conceive it to be possible that objects exist outside the mind, we must conceive them as unconceived. (2) Conceiving objects as unconceived is impossible. -Therefore (3) We cannot conceive it to be possible that objects exist outside the mind. (A cube and a sphere: impossible)

Know the premises and conclusion of Berkeley's argument for idealism.

(1) We perceive objects (2) We immediately perceive only ideas. (Hume's impression) (how close we are connected to it) -Therefore (3) Objects are (collections of) ideas.

What does Ryle mean by "the official doctrine"?

(Doctrine widely held) (not something to believe in) the dogma of the ghost in the machine = Cartesian Dualism... With the doubtful exceptions of idiots and infants in arms every human being has both a body and a mind.

Explain the thought experiment that is necessary to understand Jackson's argument

(counter attack against physicalism: all that exists is matter, explained in terms of matter generally, same as materialism) Qualia (plural:Latin): Non-physical, mental properties of what is it like to see, hear, etc.

What problem does Ryle say the official doctrine has?

Does not fit with science -Does not fit with determinism -Mind and body interaction, is difficult to explain (main problem)

What is the point of Searle's Chinese room thought experiment?

It attacks behaviorist answers. Characteristics of human beings' story-understanding capacity that they can answer questions about the story even though the information that they give was never explicitly stated in the story.

What is the problem of other minds?

Solipsism: only my mind and its ideas exist. (reductio of absurdity)

How does Turing say we should answer the question "Can machines think?"

The imitation game.

Why does Searle say that computers that follow programs cannot think?

intentionality: a property of a mental state that consists in its being "of", "about", or "representing" something (a thing, property, or state of affairs).

What objection to refined behaviorism does Armstrong consider?

suggests that it is useful to say that the mind and mental states are "logically tied to behaviour".

Know the premises and conclusion of Russell's argument from analogy.

(1) I observe that my mind causes my body to move. (2) I observe other bodies moving. (3) The only cause of bodily motion is a mind -Therefore (4) There are other minds.

What are the different kinds of ways in which ideas are related to each other?

-Resemblance: a statue that reminds you of a man with importance -Contiguity (spatial or temporal): if a room next to yours was your sister. -Cause and Effect: a scar you got falling, every time you look at the scar, it reminds you of what happened.

Which objection does Salmon make to each purported solution to the problem of induction?

-Scientific method is deductive -Without induction it can't possibly use it.

Which purported solutions to the problem of induction does Salmon discuss?

-The success of Science -Rule Circularity

What objections to his view does Jackson discuss?

1. Mary only learns about sensations, not properties. 2. Mary has a acquired "knowledge how" not "knowledge that" 3. The argument is too strong because it can be reformulated against Dualism.

What reasons does Churchland give for accepting eliminative materialism?

1. Predictive failure 2. Induction from previous cases of debunking 3. It is more likely that common sense, psychology, will be proven wrong and that it will be proven right.

Which objections does he consider to his answer, and how does he respond to them?

1. With finite memory/ program of finite length, is not possible to do any operation. 2. Computers cannot create; therefore, they can't think. 3. You cannot program a computer to do X. (emotion/feelings) 4. We can only program a computer to do what we know how to do 5. Humans have no definite rules that determine what they do. However, computers do.

What does Armstrong say the difference is between crude behaviorism and refined behaviorism?

Crude: Mental states are identical to actions (sadness and crying) Cannot be true Refined: Mental states are only dispositions to behave in a certain way. (fragile doesn't mean its broken)

Define eliminative materialism.

Some or all of what common sense says about mental states is false.

Describe Searle's Chinese room thought experiment.

Someone asks a question to a room in chinese. The person inside has a guidebook for every type of answers (but he doesn't understand chinese) The man inside returns the proper answer to the question in chinese.

What is the problem of induction?

They don't prove what they intend to prove Could falsify the conclusion. (problem) Justification can't solve this problem.

What is Berkeley's account of the existence of unperceived objects?

Unperceived objects exist, but unperceived ideas do not exist.

Why is Hume a skeptic about what he is skeptical about?

We never have an impression of identity (cause and effect) Belief in identity (C&E) does not come through the senses.