Mind and Body

what is of upmost importance in monism

empiricism - due to the ability to gather evidence

what did Socrates believe about the self

-soul was the awareness of a human and contains the rational elements of the mind
-psyche was immortal and survives death

what did Plato believe about the self

-Allegory of the Cave - views on dualism
-mind and soul are one, can continue after death
-forms are eternal, existing in another plain and can only be understood by the mind and reason
-senses unreliable

what are the 3 ways that Plato gave evidence of the soul

1. cycle of opposites life comes from death, death follows life, so if dead can exist after death, soul is immortal

2. soul has previous knowledge - must have come from another life

3. soul relates to the invisible and intelligible things, body to visible and non-intelligible - body dies, soul lives on

how does Plato's allegory of the cave help to explain his idea about eternal ideas of the soul

can recognise things we see in the world because the ideas are already imprinted on us - need to access them fully through rational thought
-dont gain new knowledge, get the soul to recall what it already knows from its past lives and immortal status

what did Aristotle believe about the self

-monism - had a psych but took a more holistic approach
-soul was a way of understating the whole human being
-soul is the rational part of the body, what gives the body life
-senses really important
-reason was not superior

what is the central concept in ancient India about the self

wheel of samsara - constant flow of life from body to death and then rebirth or reincarnation in a new body

how is the wheel of samsara kept spinning in Hinduism

-by desires and sensations to feed our body, exist in a state f ignorance or avidya

what do Hindus believe in

-dualism
-atman - body and a separate mind or soul
-jiva - body and mind together

main goal in Hinduism

to be able to discipline the mind, through yoga or asceticism - so the body is controlled, thus actions are controlled - to obtain good karma and get closer to moksha

what happens at moksha

-atman is able to merge with the supreme spirit, Brahman, end to reincarnation

what did Buddha state that humans need to accept

-the concept of anatta or no-self, where we don't have a distinct mind but a fluctuating stream of consciousness, which is re-born at death
-follow a form of non-dualism - don't accept that there is a mind-body problem to solve

what did Judaism believe in

-monism
-believe in a soul or life (nefesh) - not a separate essence from the body
-jews not cremated, whole body will be renewed by God and it will be resurrected

what did Descartes believe in

-immortality of the soul
-substance dualism
-foundationalism
-wont rely on his senses, in dreams senses unreliable
-evil demon
-humans are minds

what did Descartes say about consciousness and the mind

-primary characteristic of mind
-mind and body were separate substances
-body has extension
-mind is irreducible
-interactionism

how did Ryle describe the Cartesian mind as

'the ghost in the machine' - visitor at Oxford university

what does Ryle's analogy of the visitor at Oxford illustrate

-category error in placing the mind and body in different logical categories - when the ind isn't distinct at all
-mind is an amalgamation of all parts of a human and a collective term

what ideas did Berkeley support

-idealism
-immaterialism

what did Berkeley believe

that everything physical composed ideas, which are dependent on the mind
'esse is percipi'
all ideas in our mind must have an origin - this attributes to God

esse is pericipi

to be is to be perceived

what did Hegel attempt to do

synthesise ideas about mind and reality

what did Hegel argue

that the mind becomes 'realised' through the physical world

what ideas did Hegel put forward using

-dialectical logic - allows new ideas to arise through a synthesis of different ideas coming together
-a thesis (initial argument)
-antithesis (contradictory idea)
-synthesis (unifying theory)

what analogy did Hegel use to demonstrate his dialectical logic

-master-slave dialetic
-2 men are free
-when they meet one becomes powerful master, other the slave
-master becomes dependent on the slave, slave knows master needs him, so paradoxically - the slave is free
-master releases slave or he will be enslaved

what did the master-slave dialetic show

-mind become aware that it needs something to think about, so it can only flourish through the body
-through this interplay of mind and body, the 'absolute' emerges - mind is aware of its limitations
-mind can take a higher form as it is capable of higher awareness and achieve self-realisation

what did Hegel believe about the mind

-mind is superior as it goes beyond the body

naturalism

the ability to solve problems through a study of the natural world

what do naturalists believe

that progress should be scientific
-excludes anything connected to the supernatural
-believes in monism
-no faith in ideas abstracted from the real world
- should be supported
-mindis nothing more than discussing behaviour

philosophical/logical behaviourism: what did Ryle think about our behaviour

-our behaviour comes from external stimuli and biological stimuli, not from thoughts or mental events
-mind-body monism
-body is an entity
-mind has no separate existence - way of talking about what the body does

how does functionalism differ from behaviourism

-supports the idea of separate physical and mental states

what does functionalism say about the brain/mind

-mind and brain are not identical as the mind is a way of talking about functions that happen in the brain

analogy to support functionalism

-mind is the software that runs on the computer
-brain is the hardware, medium to the programs

what did Daniel Dennett believe

-consciousness could be studied
-could study someone else experiences in an objective manner (phenomenology)

phenomenology

studying someone else experiences

what does Dennett reject

-Descartes ideas that the mind perceives out experiences as a homunculus (little man) in a Cartesan theatre

what is the minds purpose according to Dennett

-to enable certain systems, such as sight
-thinking and having a mind is just a product of our body/brain system

Heterophenomenology

third-person study of consciousness, if we see it as many impressions and corresponding behaviour

how does Dennett believe we can study consciousness

-by recording experiences and checking them against data

how are we able to study someone elses experiences according to Dennett

-need to discuss first person experiences in an objective way

what does Dennett think consciousness actually is

-just the accumulation of inputs into the body (sound, touch) and outputs (anions)
-multiple drafts of inputs and outputs
-mind is just a product of these processes that are taking place

what does Dennett assume about other minds

-that other minds work in a similar fashion of inputting and outputting data
-mind can be reduced to its functions

what was David Chalmers sceptical about

-functionalism and the ability of it to give information about other minds
-is a naturalistic dualist

what did Chalmers think about consciousness

-didnt think it was a collection of sensory inputs, but a subjective quality of experience

what are the 2 distinctions with concepts of the mind that Chalmers makes

-phenomenal, where we experience things
-psychological, refers to behaviour

what does Chalmers think about experiences

-that how someone experiences something is different to studying mental processes

what does Chalmers think about psychological problems

-can be termed 'easy-problems' as they are about studying behaviour and how the mind works

what do scientific studies about the mind (functionalists) only tell us, according to Chalmers

-correlations between an area of the brain and a state of consciousness, don't tell us about consciousness itself

what are considered 'hard-problems' according to Chalmers

-phenomenal problems and consciousness
-concerned wit understanding what it is like to understand something

how does Chalmers use the philosophical zombies problem

-to argue against functionalism, we are not compelled to think that other people have consciousness and experiences
-even if we understand the mind in a functionalist manner, it doesn't tell us about consciousness - not needed in a functioning system

how did Chalmers describe consciousness and what does this show

-like a movie - we able to see what is happening to ourselves
-mind can't be broken down, consciousness is essentially a fundamental property of the universe - subjective, can never fully be understood

argument against reductive physicalism - what is Jackson's thought experiment of Mary

-Jacksons thought experiment of Mary
-spent whole life in black and white room
-learnt everything needed to know about colour, never seen it
-when she sees colour for the first time has she learned something new?

argument against reductive physical - what does Jackson say about Mary seeing colour for the first

'the qualitative experience of seeing a colour - say red - isn't the same as knowing facts about red'
-if everything made up of the physical, it wouldn't have contributed to her understanding at all
-gained qualia

begging the question

philosophical fallacy in which the premises assume the conclusion they're supposed to be proving

argument against Jacksons experiment - how is it 'begging the question'

-assumes that Mary learns something when she steps out of the room
-if physicalism is true, then it wouldn't have added to her understanding

what does epiphenomenalism show

beliefs, desires and temperaments do exist, but they have no power over anything physical about you

Mysterianism

The question of consciousness is unsolvable by human minds

why does McGinn say we can't solve the question of consciousness

-brains are compartmentalised
-way we understand our mind is through reflection -personal and subjective
-brains and bodies are objective
-dont mix