Mind-Body Problem and Philosophy of Science

Practice flashcards covering the mind-body problem, theories of mind (behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, eliminativism, EEC), and philosophy of science concepts.

Mind-body problem

The general question of how mental processing (thinking, intending, perceiving, etc.) can be produced by a physical brain.

Substance dualism

The theory that the mind consists of two separate substances: a material body and an immaterial soul.

Property dualism

The view that there are different kinds of properties (mental and physical) rather than different kinds of things.

Phenomenal consciousness

Subjective, first-person aspects of life, including the raw feelings of sensations, emotions, and perception, also known as qualia.

Intentionality

Also known as 'aboutness', the capacity of mental states or language to be about objects, states of affairs, or events.

Res cogitans

Descartes' term for a thinking thing that exists in the inner realm.

Res extensa

Descartes' term for an extended (material) thing that exists in the outer realm.

Identity of indiscernibles

Leibniz's principle stating that x is the same as y only if they share all their properties.

Ontology

The study of what exists and the nature of reality.

Epistemology

The study of what we know and how we can know it.

Interaction problem

The question raised by Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia regarding how an immaterial soul can cause physical movement and vice versa.

Causal closure of the physical realm

The idea that every physical event has a complete physical explanation, making immaterial entities redundant in explaining physical processes.

Para-mechanical hypothesis

Ryle's term for the idea that intelligent behavior is caused by hidden inner mechanisms (the mind) separate from the body.

Category error

The mistake of treating the mind as an additional entity existing behind behavior rather than as a part of the behavior itself.

Logical behaviorism

The theory that the mind is defined as a set of behavioral dispositions to act in specific ways under specific circumstances.

Mental Holism

The problem for behaviorism that a specific behavior can arise from a variety of combinations of mental states (beliefs and desires).

Type-identity theory

The theory that every specific type of mental state is identical to a specific type of brain state (e.g., pain is always C-fiber firing).

Token-identity theory

The theory that every individual instance of a mental state type is identical to some brain state token, though not necessarily the same type each time.

Multiple realization

The idea that the same mental state type can be implemented by different physical systems or brain states across species or through neuroplasticity.

Functionalism

The view that mental states are defined by the causal roles they play (inputs, internal effects, and outputs) rather than what they are made of.

Access consciousness

Content that the brain is aware of and is directly accessible for determining actions, speech, and thought.

Explanatory gap

The difficulty in explaining how physical neuroscientific descriptions can give rise to subjective, qualitative experiences.

Hard problem of consciousness

The question of why and how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective, first-person experience.

Folk Psychology

The intuitive, everyday ability to understand and predict human behavior by attributing mental states like belief and desire.

Eliminativism

The position that folk psychological concepts are fictions that should be replaced by neuroscience.

Intentional stance

Interpreting an entity's behavior by assuming it is a rational agent guided by goals, beliefs, and desires.

Extended mind thesis

The idea that cognitive processes can extend beyond the brain to include physical artifacts and the environment (e.g., a notebook as memory).

Parity principle

The rule that if an external process performs a function that would be recognized as a cognitive process if it happened internally, it should be considered part of the mind.

Sandwich model of cognition

The view that perception is input and action is output, with 'central' cognitive processes occurring in between.

Sensorimotor theory

The claim that perceptual experience is a form of activity constituted by implicit knowledge of sensorimotor regularities.

Demarcation problem

The challenge of drawing a line between scientific empirical statements and non-scientific or pseudoscientific statements.

Verificationism

The logical empiricist view that scientific statements must be empirically observable or verifiable to be considered relevant.

Falsifiability

Popper's criterion that a theory is scientific only if it is possible to describe observations that would prove it false.

Lakatosian research programs

A system of core foundational beliefs protected by auxiliary assumptions that are 'progressive' if they lead to new successful predictions.

Kuhn's Paradigm

A set of accepted theories, shared assumptions, and standard methods within which 'normal science' operates.

Incommensurability

Kuhn's concept that competing paradigms are so different that there is no common language or objective standard to compare them directly.

Scientism

The belief that science is the only legitimate source of knowledge and that its methods are universally applicable to all subjects.