2-2.8

Metaphysics

area concerned with fundamental questions about the nature of reality

Ockham's Razor

the principle that we should eliminate all unnecessary entities and explanatory principles in our theories

Descartes' Basic Premise

offered several arguments to convince people that the mind and body are two separate realities

Principle of the Nonidentity of Discernibles

if two things do not have exactly identical properties, then they are not identical

Physicalism

the theory that human beings can be explained completely and adequately in terms of their physical or material components

Phineas Gage

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function

Eliminativism

a type of physicalism that denies the existence of a separate, nonphysical mind and discards all language that refers to mental events

Folk Psychology

our informal beliefs about other people and their behavior/pejorative term used to characterize traditional psychological theories

Functionalism

how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish./mental states are defined in terms of how they function

Multiple Realizability

the property by which something can be realized, embodied, instantiated in multiple ways and in different media

Turing Test

One method of determining the strength of artificial intelligence, in which a human tries to decide if the intelligence at the other end of a text chat is human.

Strong AI Thesis

claim that an appropriately programmed computer really is a mind and can be said to literally understand, believe, and have other cognitive states

Weak AI Thesis

claim that AI research may help people explore various theoretical models of human mental processes while acknowledging that computers only simulate mental activities

John Searle's Chinese Room

person who has no knowledge of chinese is placed in a room with a large rule book that gives directions on how to respond to chinese sentences and symbols with chinese replies

intentionality

feature of certain mental states by which they are directed at or are about objects or states of affairs of the world

circumstantial freedom

the ability and the opportunity to perform whatever action one chooses

metaphysical freedom

free will or the power of the self to choose among genuine alternatives

hard determinism

having metaphysical freedom is necessary condition for people to be morally responsible for their choices in any meaningful sense of the word

libertarianism

the thesis that people do have metaphysical freedom (REJECTS DETERMINISM)

agency theory

version of libertarianism that rejects both determinism and indeterminism. claims that events are brought about by agents (two kinds)

agency causation

occurs when an event is brought about through the free action of an agent (person, self)

event causation

occurs when a prior event necessarily causes a subsequent event

facticity

acknowledges that there are features of a person's past or present that he or she is not free to choose, which seem to set limits on the course of his or her life

transcendence

people's ability to define themselves, creating their future in terms of their choices, plans, dreams, and ambitions

compatibilism (soft determinism)

thesis that people are both determined and have the sort of freedom necessary to be morally responsible for their actions

external cause

physical forces, conditions

internal cause

personality, values, motives, beliefs, desires -> internal factors have their origin in the agents causal history