mind and body

Materialism

Materialism

the idea that mind and consciousness can be fully explained by physical or material interactions. the rejection of the soul.

Plato’s understanding of body and soul

general belief was that the soul is immaterial and the real ”me”. it is pre-existent and immortal

• soul = more important than body

• body= part of impirical world so changes

what did Phineas gage show us

that what we thought was non physical (our personality / our mind) is in fact affected by our physical experiences and raises the question of where does our mind reside?

reductive physicalism

the view that the world is made of only physical stuff including us

substance dualism

the world is made of both physical and mental stuff, they say that minds are a separate nonphysical substance that con not be reduced to or explained in terms of physical stuff like brains

interactionism

the theory that there are two entities, mind and body each of which can have an effect on the other.

what is the mind body problem?

how can my body have a separate entity called a mind inside of it controlling it and being controlled by it?

what did Descartes say about the mind body problem?

that the mind is tethered to the body at the pineal gland and all mind-body interactions are filtered through that portal between the mind and the body.

what was frank jackson’s thought experiment

that of mary who was a physicist and knew everything about colour but had never seen it if she then saw colour would she have learnt something new? jackson made this as an argument against reductive physicalism “the qualitative experience of seeing the colour say red isn’t the same ass knowing facts about red.” so if everything could be explained in physical terms then, seeing red wouldnt have contributed to her understanding

qualia

instances of subjective first person experiences

what does begging the question mean?

a philosophical fallacy in which the premise assume the conclusion they’re supposed to be proving. so Jackson assumes mary learns something new when she sees colour.

epiphenomenalism?

physical states can give rise to mental states but mental states can’t affect physical states.

mysterianism by collin mcginn?

the question of consciousness is unsolvable by human minds. because the way in which we understand minds is through reflections, which is deeply personal and subjective but the way we understand our brains and bodies is objective and verifiable.