Philosophy unit 3 test - Metaphysics

Define "metaphysics"

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of reality, existence, and the fundamental principles underlying the universe. It explores questions about the nature of being, the structure of reality, and the existence of a supreme being.

Idealism

Reality consists of ideas and the minds that house them.

Berkely denied the existence of material things, saying material objects are ideas that God placed in humans.

Philosopher: George Berkley

Realism

Platonic realism. Reality consists of ideal forms/ideas that are timeless, unchanging, immaterial, and perfect. There is a 'real world' that we can't see with our senses, that is perfect. The physical world is an imperfect shadow/reflection of this realm.

Philosopher: Plato

Materialism

Everything is physical, reality consists of matter. Even consciousness, or thought, is a material phenomenon.

Philosopher: Hobbes

Monism

Reality consists of one all-encompassing thing, material or mental, and all particular things are manifestations or expressions of it.

Philosopher: Spinoza

Dualism

Reality consists of two fundamentally different kinds of things; mind and matter.

Philosopher: Descartes

Why does metaphysics matter?

Metaphysical questions arise in everyday life and can help give people purpose. Important in medical ethics.

Describe Plato's world of Forms or Ideas.

The physical world we perceive with our senses is a shadow or imperfect reflection of a higher abstract realm of reality, which Plato calls the world of Forms or Ideas.

What are the Forms, and how can they be known?

The Forms are eternal, unchanging and perfect blueprints of what we see in the physical world, and can only be known through philosophical reasoning. There is a form for every item that exists in the world that is perceived by people (including objects, humans, and values).

What purpose does Plato's ideal world serve?

Plato's ideal world is a realm of perfection. Serves as the standard for judging the imperfections of our world, and what to aspire towards. The ultimate goal is to use knowledge of the Forms to lead a life guided by their principles.

Substance Theory (Descartes)

The self is not a material substance, it is mental. It controls the body and the brain, supporting changing experiences, but doesn't change itself.

The Bundle Theory (Hume)

The self is a collection of experiences, with no unity.

(Fleeting ideas, sensory impressions, fragmentary memories, passing desires)

The Narrative Theory (Ricoeur)

The self is shaped by narrative, with individuals making sense of their experiences through storytelling, as both the central character and author. Evolves continuously.

- Unified: cohesive sense of self

- Fragmented: disjointed identity

The Project Theory (Satre)

The self is more of an event in time than a thing. Not given ready-made or with instructions, constantly changing.

What is self-deception? What does it lead to?

When someone convinces themselves of something they know to be untrue. Isn't conscious or accidental, involves forming intentions to achieve certain goals such as avoiding unpleasant truths.

Can lead to inner conflict, as people may ignore evidence, knowing it is morally wrong.

What is "self-knowledge"? How does it impact our lives?

Self-knowledge requires self-inquiry and detachment from personal biases to understand the causes behind desires, beliefs, and emotions. Can help to anticipate and control our lives, allowing more freedom.

What does Richard Rorty believe about self-knowledge?

Understanding oneself is like interpreting a text that keeps changing. Since the self changes from one period of a person's life to the next, the inquiry must inevitably remain incomplete.

What is "personhood"? Why is personhood important?

Personhood: an essential component of most legal and moral systems. To be considered a person is to be considered the holder of certain rights and privileges, most fundamentally the right to life.

John Locke conditions of personhood

Rationality

Thought

Consciousness

Self-consciousness

Self-identity

An entity having a human body, or human biology, is not enough to make it a person.

Daniel Dennett conditions of personhood

- Rationality

- Conscious mental states and intentionality

- Being the subject of a special stance or attitude of regard by other persons

- Reciprocating this person-regarding stance

- The capacity for verbal communication

- Self-consciousness

*note: if something is recognized as a person by other persons, it helps to make it a person

Mary Ann Warren essential conditions of personhood

- The ability to feel pain

- Reasoning and problem-solving ability

- The ability to carry out self-motivated activities

- The ability to communicate messages of an indefinite variety of types

- The presence of self-concepts and self-awareness

*note: a creature does not need not satisfy all conditions to be a person.

Annette Baier conditions of personhood

Proposed a naturalist view of persons as embodied, interpersonally responsive, and dependent creatures.

Why are definitions of "personhood" problematic? What implications does/can this have in society? Explain.

They try to set clear definitions to a complex topic that is often challenged, as people have different definitions. Grey areas exist, and are not accounted for by each definition. They are either too vague, leading to confusion, or too specific, leading to exclusion.

Can have legal and medical consequences, especially when considering the right to life.

For Locke, what is the most important component of personal identity? What does this mean for a person who has experienced amnesia?

The most important part of personal identity is "Continuing consciousness."

Continuing consciousness: The ability to remember, take responsibility for past actions, and relate events/actions to the self.

If there is a break in the continuity of your consciousness, such as a gap caused by amnesia, you are no longer the same person.

What does Derek Parfit believe connects people to their earlier or later selves? What happens to much of a person's earlier self by the time they grow old, according to Parfit?

Continued existence over time; people are connected psychologically to other stages of their life by overlapping links of memory and intention. Over a lifetime, only parts of current selves survive.

The Materialists solution

Everything that exists, including a person's thoughts, consciousness, and personality, is made of matter. Nothing non-material exists in reality.

The Identity Theorists' Solution (form of materialism)

All mental states are identical to brain states.

Mental state = brain states, just as

◦ light = electromagnetic waves

◦ H2O = Water

◦ Pain = firing in L2 cortex

The Eliminativist Materialist's solution (form of materialism)

The way we usually talk about thoughts and feelings is wrong, our understanding of the mind will change as we learn more about how our brains work.

Eliminate talk about mental state, just focusing on brain state

The Functionalist's Solution (form of materialism)

Mental states can be made real in various ways. With the right hardware and software, computers can understand things and have a variety of mental states.

All a matter of input and output.

(Can create mental states)

The Dualists Solution

The human mind is non-material, independent of the body but interacts with it. Minds are different from material substances because they do not take up space and cannot be divided.

The Subjectivist's Solution (opposite of materialism)

Mental states and consciousness are fundamentally subjective experiences, and can't be fully explained by brain activity.

2 people can receive the same amount of pain, but feel it at different levels

The Monists Solution

Reality is composed of one type of thing.

Spinoza: reality consists of an all-inclusive substance, which he identified as "God or Nature." Mental-state terms and body/brain-state terms refer to the same thing. One way cannot be reduced to the other, nor can one be explained in terms of the other.

What are human beings according to strong AI theory? What does this suggest?

Human beings are essentially computers because they process, store, and encode information. In principle, humans can be duplicated by other machines not built from tissue, using the right hardware and software.

What is John Searle's Chinese Room thought experiment? What does it demonstrate about the limitations of computer programs in understanding language?

Created an experiment to show that computers do not think, understand, or comprehend languages. Goes against strong AI. Real understanding involves more than manipulating empty symbols.

How did Descartes view non-human animals?

Only humans possess minds, non-human animals are biological machines that lack consciousness, thought or feeling. Incapable of genuine language use or problem-solving.

Kanzi, a bonobo communicating with symbols, challenges Descartes's views.

Theism

theos = god (greek).

The universe was created by a perfect, all-powerful supreme being who is interested in its well-being and can intervene.

Deism

Deus = god (latin).

A supreme being created the universe but does not intervene in its working.

Polytheism

Poly = many (Greek).

Many gods govern the universe, with each god having a different role.

Ex. Greek Gods

Monotheism

Mono = one (Greek).

The universe is the creation of a single, perfect, all-powerful supreme being. Many monotheistic religions believe the supreme being is person-like.

Ex. Christianity, Judaism

Pantheism

Pan = all (Greek).

A supreme being is everywhere and everything in the universe contains the spirit of this being.

A divinized nature and naturalized divinity.

(God is found in all things)

Panentheism

Everything that exists, from the largest galaxies in the universe to the smallest neutrinos is part of God.

All things are found in God (he is greater)

The Ontological Argument

Defines God as a supremely perfect being. Since existence is a feature of perfection, God must exist.

For something to be perfect, it must exist

The Ontological Argument: contradictions

Why does something perfect have to exist?

Assumes god does exists in order to prove it

You can't know all about existence just by thinking. How do you then separate real and imaginary theories?

If god is all powerful and all loving, why does evil exist?

The cosmological argument

It is impossible for any natural thing in the world to create itself; everything comes from something else. At some point there must be a cause that is not itself caused, which is God.

The cosmological argument: contradictions

If something caused everything, why does it have to be a loving god, if a god at all? why not a multiverse, or something completely unknown?

This argument says everything needs a cause, except from God. If everything needs a cause, shouldn't gods as well?

Why should a chain of causes have a beginning? Can't it be infinite? Chicken and the egg

If time began with the universe, what's to say there was something before it?

Argument from Design

There is lots of design and purpose in the universe, and could not have happened by accident; there has to have been an intelligent creator, God.

• Fibonacci sequence

Argument from Design contradictions

natural selection, evolution. No designer needed

We are looking for things to prove there is a God, to comfort us, even if they aren't really there.

Not a good analogy, the universe is different than a machine humans could make

If everything that is intricate needs a designer, who designed god?

A perfect creator would design perfect things, but nature has flaws.

The universe could have multiple designers, why just god?

What are "atheists"? List the arguments of atheism.

Reject the idea of the existence of a supreme being.

Arguments:

1. There can't be a supremely perfect and kind being that could create a world full of evil, war, poverty, death, and suffering.

2. In a world that is hostile, a supreme being fulfills people's need for security, order, and meaning.

3. Everything in nature can be explained with science, so there is no need for a supreme being to be the creator of nature.

Pascal's Wager:

From a gambler's point of view, people are better off living and acting as if there is a God.

Hard Determinism

Every action and choice is caused by a chain of causes, extending back in time. Free will is an illusion; your psychology, behaviour, and personality are formed for you, not by you.

Theory of Agent Causation

People are free because they are the sources of their own actions, rather than simple reactors to external forces

The theory of free will

The will isn't a physical entity, so it is insulated from all external causes. It can interact with the brain and send messages telling it to perform an action.

Soft determinism

Determinism and freedom are compatible. People are free if their actions are caused by their own desires, even if the desires are determined.

The Nihilist Approach

Life is meaningless; everything will mean nothing if the universe collapses, and means nothing now.

Theistic approach

Human life is meaningful due to a loving and all-powerful being that gives people the gift of existing. It is part of God's plan to discover your meaning.

Non-theistic approach

The meaning of life is in the practices of this world, not other-worldly orientation. The meaning of life is invented, not discovered.

You make life what you want it to be.