Philosophy Exam 3
What can't be conscious on the philosophical definition?
Not all mental processes are conscious (subconscious) Not all conscious states are mental processes (pain)
Automobiles are constructed out of metal and fiberglass. In the sense in which the metal and fiberglass explain what the automobile consists in, the metal and fiberglass are a __________ of the automobile.
material cause
Behaviorism
"mind" just means what I can observe externally about your behavior.
How does the philosophical definition of consciousness relate to bats?
No matter how much we learn about bat brains, it seems unlikely to tell us what it is like to be a bat. I
On the philosophical definition, someone who is conscious is awake and responsive, whereas someone who is unconscious is asleep and non-responsive.
False
The selection from Chalmers's article offers several arguments against materialism (physicalism). Which one of the following is not one of those arguments?
Argument from the existence of a priori knowledge.
that consciousness depends on the brain, contrary to substance dualism.
Brain injuries change conscious experiences; they do not act like they would before (Ex: Phineas Gage)
What does a panpsychist believe about the mind?
Consciousness and the physical are but two aspects of one underlying substance. Everything has a degree of consciousness, and conscious minds are made out of conscious parts
What does a substance dualist believe about consciousness?
Consciousness does not supervene on the physical (body), and is independent from it.
What does an emergentist dualist believe about the mind?*
Consciousness supervenes on the physical, but its nature isn't physical. Mental events have the power to cause physical events, even though mental events depend for their existence on physical events.
How does the philosophical definition of consciousness relate to other senses of the word "consciousness"?
Don't confuse "consciousness" (quality of experience) with "conscience" (intuitive moral faculty). You might be conscious even if doctors call you "unconscious" (e.g., you are non-responsive, asleep, or comatose - but still experiencing/dreaming) "Awareness" is more specific than consciousness.
How does Churchland's argument appeal to the effects of lithium, alcohol, and cocain
Drugs show that consciousness depends on the brain, contrary to substance dualism.
What do Aristotle's four causes have in common?
Efficient Cause, Final Cause, Material Cause, and Formal Cause all give an answer to the question "why?" "what makes it so?"
According to Chalmers, we can check the mind of another person to see if he or she is having an experience like our own when exhibiting some behavior or other, by performing an fMRI scan of the person's brain.
False
According to Chalmers, we know other people are conscious because they behave much the same way that we do when we have a conscious experience, such as cowering when feeling pain or hearing a threatening roar.
False
According to Churchland, the soul is separate from the body, which makes life after death possible.
False
Churchland holds that the powers of minds are insoluble mysteries because, unlike mechanisms, minds are perfect and function without error.
False
In Chalmers's article, he argues that reductive explanations of consciousness will succeed in a further developed future physics, even though the physics of today can't yet explain why consciousness exists in physical terms.
False
In Jackson's article, Mary the color scientist spends her life studying how colors appear to her, and never learns about the study of brains and neuroscience until her release.
False
In Jackson's article, when Mary the color scientist leaves her black and white room, what she learns is not a new fact, but how to do something she couldn't do before.
False
In the sense we are discussing in class, a dualist believes that there are two forces in the universe, good and evil, locked in an eternal struggle.
False
In the sense we are discussing in class, a materialist believes that only money and possessions have real value, not friendship or love.
False
On the philosophical definition, in order to be conscious, you must have the ability to reflect on your own consciousness (self-consciousness).
False
Although dualists and physicalists disagree over whether it is difficult to conceive of a brain as a whole being conscious, both sides agree that it is NOT difficult to conceive of a particular neuron's firing having a thought.
False; Both dualists and physicalists will admit that it is difficult to conceive of a brain as a whole being conscious, and it is equally difficult to conceive of a particular neuron's firing being a thought.
We can know what it is like to be a bat, by simulating within a computer-generated model the experiences which bats typically have.
False; Even a computer generated model that purports to be what it is like to be a bat will involve visual stimuli-colors and lines—which may not be anything like how bats perceive their world.
A materialist holds that the only solution to the problem of consciousness is to conclude that all matter has consciousness; not only brains, but furniture as well.
False; a panpsychist believes this
Birds lay eggs in order to reproduce, to have offspring. In the sense in which having offspring explains why birds lay eggs, having offspring is a ________ of birds laying eggs.
Final cause
A branch is defined as a division of the stem of a tree. In the sense in which being a part of a tree explains why a branch is what it is, the tree is a ______ of the branch.
Formal Cause
Serving as the Head of State is part of what it is to be the President. In the sense in which being the head of state partly explains what it is to be the President, being Head of State is a _________ of being the President.
Formal cause
What does the principle of "Ockham's Razor" say?
It argues that: if all else is equal, the simpler of two competing hypotheses should be preferred, emergence is complicated, and Everything depends on the brain. If you have 2 things that explain the same phenomena, go with the synapomorphy (simpler explantation) mainly used by Churchland
What does a reductive physicalist believe about the mind?
MIND = BRAIN Mental states = brain states; Consciousness is identical to something physical, and fully explained by it. beliefs, feelings, and perceptions are identical with distinctive types of event in the brain
How does she learn it?
Mary had spent her entire life learning about what color was but it wasn't unitl she walked out of the black and white room and saw red (rose) that realized what it was
Who is Mary?
Mary the color scientist spends her life confined in a black and white room, and never sees and colorful objects until her release.
A sod house is a house made out of dirt. In the sense in which the dirt explains why the sod house is there, the dirt is a _________ of the sod house.
Material Cause
What can be conscious on the philosophical definition?
My "mind" is the subject of all of my mental states
Unintelligibility theory
Our talk about "minds" is meaningless and outdated. "Thoughts" are as real as "goblins"
How does the philosophical definition of consciousness relate to our knowledge of the contents of other people's minds?
Panpsychism: argue other people are conscious Chalmers argues that other people are alive but are not conscious Jackson: uses the Mary scenario to show other people are conscious
efficient causes
Replace with the word causes a past event that produces a future event. It explains why a future event occurs.
Why is the "Mary" argument a challenge to physicalism?
So, there are facts about consciousness that aren't reducible to the physical facts.If physicalism is true, then every fact is a physical fact, so Mary can't learn a new fact if she already knows all of the physical facts.
What are the different senses of "consciousness?"
Substance Dualism: Consciousness does not supervene on the physical, and is independent from it. Emergentist Dualism: Consciousness supervenes on the physical, but its nature isn't physical. Mere Property Dualism: Conscious properties do not supervene on physical properties, but there are only physical substances. Eliminativist Physicalism: There are no facts about consciousness, and our concept of it is mistaken. Reductive Physicalism: Consciousness is identical to something physical, and fully explained by it. Non-Reductive Physicalism: Consciousness supervenes on the physical, but our concept of consciousness isn't physical. Panpsychism: Consciousness and the physical are but two aspects of one underlying substance.
How does the philosophical definition of consciousness relate to brains?
Substance dualist on the brain: Supervenience: there is no logical possibility of a difference in conscious state without a difference in brain state Dualist on the brain: the effects of drugs like lithium, alcohol, and cocaine show that consciousness depends on the brain, contrary to substance dualism.
One argument often given against substance dualism is that, if mind and matter are different substances, then it is difficult to explain how minds can cause matter to move.
True; Substance dualists have to plausibly explain how minds cause bodies to do things and how bodies cause minds to have experiences.
What does an eliminativist believe about the mind?
There are no facts about consciousness, and our concept of it is mistaken. Talk about conscious beliefs, feelings, and perceptions ought to be replaced by descriptions of brain states. The mind just means what I can observe.
According to Churchland, Ockham's Razor is not a decisive point against dualism, since neither dualism nor materialism can explain all of the phenomena to be explained, but the objection does have some force.
True; "This is not yet a decisive point against dualism, since neither dualism nor materialism can yet explain all of the phenomena to be explained. But the objec- tion does have some force, especially since there is no doubt at all that physical matter exists, while spiritual matter remains a tenuous hypothesis"
We may be conscious, but rarely are aware of it - it is by way of consciousness that we are aware of the world, but we are aware through it and not of it.
True; . Consciousness makes us aware of the world, but we are aware through it and not of it. We are rarely aware of the fact that we are aware.
According to the instructor, your subjectivity separates you from everyone else, because no one can know as well as you do what you are thinking or feeling or even perceiving.
True
In Chalmers's article, nothing in the vast causal story about human behavior and brain mechanisms would lead someone who hadn't experienced it directly to believe that there should be any consciousness involved.
True
In Jackson's article, Mary the color scientist spends her life confined in a black and white room, and never sees and colorful objects until her release.
True
In the philosophical sense, a "zombie" is someone who has a brain and body just like you or I, and responds in the exact same way, but isn't having conscious experiences.
True
In the sense we are discussing in class, a dualist believes that there are two fundamental kinds of thing in the world - mind and matter.
True
In the sense we are discussing in class, a materialist believes that there is one fundamental kind of thing in the world, the stuff of physics, and if minds exist then they are material objects.
True
On the philosophical definition, a dream is a conscious state.
True
On the philosophical definition, a fish may have conscious experiences even though it does not have rational thought.
True
On the philosophical definition, there can't be unconscious pains.
True
The "Problem of Identification" says that, if there are souls, then one must answer how it is a soul becomes so strongly associated with one particular physical body.
True
To be "conscious" in the philosophical sense, it is not necessary to have self-consciousness.
True
According to the instructor, the properties of parts of brains, like "being made up of neuron pathways" and "being an inch and a half in length", are very different from the properties of consciousness, like "tasting like chocolate" or "feeling rough like sandpaper."
True; "Let's start with the obvious differences between the properties of parts of brains, like "being made up of neuron pathways" and "being a centimeter and a half in length", and how different these are from the properties of consciousness, like "tasting like peaches" or "feeling rough like sandpaper". It seems very difficult to reduce the properties in the first category to the properties in the second category."
If what it is to have a conscious experience is identical to what it is to be in a particular type of brain state, then dualism is false.
True; Zombie example
Why would the logical possibility of Zombies demonstrate that mental-physical supervenience is false?
Zombies are epistemically possible. Therefore, logically possible. If Zombies are logically possible, then there can be a difference in the mental facts without a difference in the physical facts. Then supervenience is false!
final causes
a possible future event that gives the reason for a past event. It explains what the event is for.
What arguments does Chalmers offer against materialialism
all physical facts are quantitative (physical), however, the "Mary" argument shows that we can learn things from out own conscious experience. Also if supervenience were true; then there would be no such thing as asymmetry
Chalmers's "Zombie" argument depends on inferring ____ possibility from ____ possibility.
logically; epistemically
Flash floods are often caused by melting snow upstream. In the sense in which the melting show explains why the flash floods occur, the melting snow is a ________ of the flash floods.
efficient cause
My belief that it is raining is what makes me take an umbrella outside with me. In the sense in which my belief explains why I take the umbrella outside, my belief is a ________ of my taking the umbrella outside.
efficient cause; my belief causes me to take the umbrella outside
Someone who believes that consciousness depends on a physical body for its existence, but has a nature which is non-physical, is a(n)
emergentist dualist
According to Churchland, substance dualists are better able than physicalists to explain how it is that the mind can interact with the body.
false
Hannah worked on improving her résumé so that she could get a better job. In the sense in which getting a better job explains what improving her résumé was for, getting a better job was the _____________ of her improving her résumé.
final cause
What is the "Problem of Identification"?
how is it that we know the person we are talking to has the same mind they had yesterday. It seems like we use observable material evidence. But if the mind isn't material, how can material evidence tell us anything about the mind?
Why would the logical possibility of "Zombies" demonstrate that mental-physical supervenience is false?
if Zombies are possible, then there can be a difference in the mental facts without a difference in the physical facts.
"Folk psychology"
is a fairy tale: no thoughts, no minds, no beliefs, no consciousness.
Someone who believes that our concepts about consciousness are different from our physical concepts, but that they refer to the same particular physical events, is a(n)
non-reductive physicalist
Avowal theory
our talk about minds doesn't assert anything.
Someone who believes that everything has a degree of consciousness, and that conscious minds are made out of conscious parts, is a(n)
panpsychist
What is a Zombie?
something physically identical to me, but lacking conscious experiences altogether; has a brain, but no mind.
Someone who believes that consciousness does not depend upon the physical body for its existence, is a(n)
substance dualist
formal causes
the 'real definition', 'nature', or 'essence' of a thing, i.e., what it is to be that thing. It explains why something is what it is.
Which sense of "necessary" does Aristotle say is the one from which all of the others are somehow derived?
the conditions without which good cannot be compulsion contrary to impulse and purpose that without which a thing cannot live that which cannot be otherwise >> primary and strict sense << from it all of the others are somehow derived.
What are the ways in which Aristotle defines "nature"?
the genesis of growing things, a primary material of which an object consists, the essences of things in general, the immanent part of a growing thing, from which its growth first proceeds. The source of primary movement, the essence of natural objects, things which have in themselves, as such, a source of movement. >> primary and strict sense <<
material causes
the parts of a thing which sustain its existence at a given moment in time. It explains what the object consists in; why the whole is there.
How does the philosophical definition of consciousness relate to souls and how they relate to bodies?
the soul (or mind) was the substantial form of the body, so that the body and soul together composed of one substance—while at the same time holding that the mind and body were distinct. "conscious experience" for the moment and Descartes's idea that there is an immaterial conscious substance independent of the physical world, a kind of ghost.
In the dualist-materialist debate, one property x supervenes on another y when ...
there can be no difference in x without a difference in y.
What does a non-reductive physicalist believe about the mind?
token brain state = token mental state; Consciousness supervenes on the physical, but our concept of consciousness isn't physical. Our concepts about consciousness are different from our physical concepts, but that they refer to the same particular physical events No reduction from our theory of the mind to our theories of the brain. No 1-to-1 correspondence between types of mental state and types of brain state; each is unique.
Churchland notes that, through neurology, we know about the correlations between damage to the brain and cognitive defects, and so materialism explains more about consciousness than dualism does.
true
What was the new fact that Mary the color scientist learned?
what it is like for others to see red.
Subjectivity
you are presently having is what we call your consciousness. What you are thinking or feeling or even perceiving.