Philosophy of the Mind: Definitions, Arguments and Objections of Theories

key assumptions of substance dualism

The body and the soul are two distinct substances because they have distinct properties.

Descartes interactionism: material things and immaterial things causally interact

They exist independently of each other

arguments for substance dualism

Leibniz’s law: the identity of indiscernibles

Descartes: interactionism, spatial location, rationalism, doubting argument, intentionality

objections of substance dualism

interactionism: how can two different entities interact with each other

leibniz’s law is not fully convincing—> intensional fallacy

core assumptions of physicalism

Everything, both mind and body, are physical or can be explained by physical properties

definition of access consciousness

subjective experience, the “what its like”, qualia, addresses visual olfactory taste pain experience

1. thought influences other thoughts

2. available as input to speech

3. codetermines actions

definition of phenomenal consciousness

• conscious thought without experience phenomenal

• characterizes specific causal and functional properties

• 1. subjective

• 2. very specific experience

• 3. well-defined length/temporal

creature consciousness

sentient, wakefulness, self awareness

state consciousness

awareness of ones mental state

ex. phenomenal consciousness and access consiousness

arguments for physicalism

solves the interaction problem

arguments against physicalism

denies the existence of “qualia” and phenomenal consciousness

explanatory gap: can’t explain why I feel…

central assumptions of property dualism

developed by david chalmers

everything is one substance, but two different properties

• physical properties and mental properties

• non-physical properties can’t be reduced to physical properties, so two different things

• considered non-reductive physicalists

• cognitice systems have both physical and non- physcial properties cognitive

challenges of property dualism

• interaction problem: how can non-physical properteis have a causal role in physical properties

• casual exclusion: if physical properties don’t have a unique role they become irrelevant or redundant, its unclear which property “caused”

definition of the explanatory gap and relation to physicalism

explanatory gap would pose as a problem for physicalism due to subjectivity and privacy

arguments against dualism

interaction problem posed by princess of bohemia

1. ocham’s razor: argument for simpler ontology

2. optimistic meta-reduction: science has never needed to reference non-physical properties, so just be optimistic

3. causal exclusion: violates the completeness of the world, overdetermination…

core idea of identity theory

• mental states are identical to brain states

• talking about brain states are just two things referring to the same thing

• only through language is mind and body different

• priori and posteriori identity statements a

definition of computationalism

A version of functionalism that defines functions of mental states by computation.

computation is a rule-based manipulation of symbols

brain= computer (hardware)

mind=computer program (software)

advantages of computationalism

1. advantages of functionalism

2. allows fro concrete portrayal of mental processes

3. strong connection to psychological research and cognitive findings

challenged of computationalism

• it isn’t really that convincing

• maybe acts better as a metaphor

• unable to account for phenomenal consciousness

definition of functionalism

mental states are identical to their causal functions

• categorizes mental states by what they do, not what they are

• categorized in terms of sensory input, behavioral output and relation to other states

arguments in favor of functionalism

multiple realizablilty is irrelevant bc everything that fulfills the same causal role or does the same thing is same mental state

• mind body problem

• multiple realizably

• explanatory power: states not based just in identity

challenges of functionalism

• liberalism

• chauvinism

core idea of illusionism

phenomenal consciousness seems to exist, but is actually just an illusion and does not actually exist

advantages of illusionism

• removes the mind body problem

• removed the hard problem of consciousness

problem with illusionism

-illusion problem

-meta-illusion problem

central assumptions of embeddedness

mental states and processes are co-dependednt of entities beyond the brain. The mind can not be dissociated from the context around it. We are passively influenced by out environment

assumptions of extendedness

the body and environment are literally part of out mind.

bodies and non-body entities can BOTH be realizers of mental states

• causation vs. constitution

• the mind can literality not be inside of the body

extended mind hypthoesis

cognition isn’t confined to just the brain and body but extends into the enviroment

criteria for extendedness

1. reliability

2. trustworthy

3. accessibilty

challenges against extended mind hypothesis

1. coupling constitution fallacy

2. cognitive bloat

core assumptions of biomedical model of mental illness (OBJECTIVE MODEL)

mental illness are just signs of brain disease, mental illness is grounded in disease as root cause

objective factors alone define wether somehting counts as a mental ilness or not

challenges of biomedical model of mental illness

• reductionism: often reduces the impact of external factors and environments, past/trauma

• explanatory gap for emotion specific mental illnesses

core assumptions of Szasz’s social constructivism (VALUE BASED MODEL)

• Individual/ society dictates whether something counts as a mental illness

• Mental illness is a myth

• Since mental health exists inside the body, and mental illness lacks clear biological markers, it is just a myth

• “problems of the living”

challenges of Szasz’s social constructivism

• Who defines the “norms” that are being deviated from?

• over-simplifying/ reductionism

definition of free will in philosophy

• having free will implies the option to choose from options

• it must be true that you could have done otherwise

assumptions of determinism

in the physical world, every event is deteremined by preceding events and the laws of nature

assumptions of incompatibility

free will is incompatible with determinism.

example: burglar

arguments in favor of incompatibility

1. origination argument

2. consequence argument

assumptions of hard determinism + advantages and disadvantages

main idea: free will does not exist and determinism is true

• disadvantages: gives up the idea of moral responsibility

• advantages: saves basic assumptions of the scientific world

assumptions of libertarianism + advantages and disadvantages

free will exists and determinism is false

• self forming actions exist because we of inter-determinsm within our world

advantages: saves central practice of moral and legal obligations

disadvantages: too simplistic, very speculative thesis

advantages of the identity theory

erases the interaction problem since mind-body are the same

key assumptions of compatibilism

free will is compatible with determinism

• only works when re-defining “free will”

• important when discussing the relevance of moral responsibility