pp111 exam

the view that the body is a physical thing or substance & the mind is a nonphysical thing or substance

dualism

a form of dualism in which minds can affect bodies & bodies can affect minds

interactionist dualism!

a form of dualism in which bodies can effect minds, but minds cannot affect bodies; minds do not causally interact with the body; mental states exist & are not physical

epiphenomenalism

the view that the mind is a physical entity & that all mental states & events are physical states & events; we are all completely physical entities with no nonphysical parts

materialism

a theory that identifies the mind with the brain & identifies mental states, processes, & events with physical ones; claims to reduce all mental phenomena to physical phenomena involving the brain

mind brain identity theory

identifies our mental states with the functional roles occupied by or jobs performed by physical states of the brain

functionalism

advances in neurosciences will eventually prove that there really are no minds, mental states, mental events; our mental lives are fiction

eliminative materialism

thought to be anything that lacks physical properties; not governed by the laws of physics

nonphysical

an entity that is subject to the laws of physics

physical

a metaphysical principle that says if A = B, then if A has a certain property or characteristic at a given time, so does B

leibniz's law

mind & body are completely different things, yet somehow they causally interact with one another

catesian dualism

the view that there are causal interactions in both directions between minds & bodies; bodies affect minds, minds affect bodies

interactionism

who believes that you can locate several characteristics of minds that no physical objects have, & concludes that minds can't be physical objects?

Descartes

on this view, anonphysical entity can & does interact with a physical entity

interactionalist dualism

who sees no possibility of interaction between body & soul if the soul has no spatial dimensions, & doubts that entities can interact if there is no contact between them

Elizabeth of Bohemia

the problem of explaining how the mind can influence the body

the interaction problem

the general idea that any physical event can be completely explained by appealing only to other physical events

closure

a set of 3 statements or doctrines related to one another in such a way that it is not possible for all of them to be true

inconsistent triads

objection that states if materialism is true, then people are only complex organisms

moral objection

objection that states if materialism is true, then there is no life after death

theological objection

a methodological & metaphysical principle that says we should not have any more components in an explanation than are needed

Ockham's razor

a materialist theory of mind that maintains that we can have true generalizations identifying mental states of the same type of physical state of the same type

reductionist theory of mind

a form of materialism that sees the discoveries & explanatory successes of modern neuroscience as showing that minds & mental states are fictions

eliminative materialism

increased neuronal activity in the amygdala of the brain

fear

holds that we can make claims about all mental states & events

reductive materialism

refers to the presumption that any creature with a radically different physical structure than humans cannot have the same kinds of mental states as humans

chauvinism

instances of a given mental state can be actualized by different distinct physical states

multiple realizability

which theory is both a materialist theory & a non reductionist theory?

functionalism

a form of materialist theory of mind that identifies types of mental states with functional roles occupied by physical states of the brain

functionalism

the causal role that something occupies in a wider system

functional role

any materialist theory of mind that denies that we can have true generalizations that identify mental states with physical states

non reductive materialism

what theory says we must be physically equivalent in some way?

mind brain identity theory

what theory says that if we are mentally equivalent in some way, then we only need to be functionally equivalent in some way?

functionalism

something that does the same job as or occupies the same causal role as something else

functional equivalence

what theory allows for the multiple realizability of mental states & thereby avoids the pitfalls of chauvinism?

functionalism

things that could not fail to exist & could not fail to be true

necessary things

things that can exist or occur

possible things

T/F; all necessary things are possible, but not all possible things are necessary

true

which of the following is NOT a reason for why your action is free

A) i chose to act

B) my action was unpredictable

C) my action was done because someone else was watching

D) my action was not caused

C

the metaphysical doctrine that everything we do is necessary, fated, so there is never any possibility of doing anything different

fatalism

the metaphysical doctrine that all events are determined by their prior causes

determinism

the doctrine that events are determined by their causes; present & future events are made inevitable by the past events that cause them

causal determinism

who believes that present events are connected with preceding ones by a tie based upon the evident principle that a thing cannot occur without a cause in which produces it?

Pierre Simon de Laplace

a hypothetical intelligence that possesses all the information about physical laws & initial conditions & the immense computational powers needed to predict the future state of the universe from its present state

Laplace's demon

the properties or characteristics of things that are relevant to predicting how they will behave in accordance with the laws of nature

initial condition

an inference that results from misidentifying the range of things that a term covers so that it is treated as covering or applying to the wrong things

the scope fallacy

the view that actions can be free even though they are determined by prior causes; internally caused actions are free though are necessitated by their causes

compatibilism

the doctrine that human actions are not determined & for that reason are free; unconstrained & uncompelled actions are free & they are not necessitated by their causes

libertarianism

who agrees that our actions & the choices that lead to them have causes but does not accept that all events are made necessary by their causes; only special kinds of causes pose a threat to our freedom?

A.J Ayer

T/F; according to Ayer, a predictable world is not necessarily a fully causally determined world

true

who believes that the actions of man are never free, they are always the necessary consequence of his temperament?

Baron d'Holbach

refers to the cessation of vital biological functions or the permanent end of life

death

who believes in reincarnation, that everything that comes to be comes from its opposite; the dead & living are opposites, therefor the dead come part of the living & vice versa?

Plato

argument developed by Plato that purports to establish the immortality of the soul & doctrine of reincarnation using the idea that life & death are opposites

argument from opposites

who believes that death cannot be a bad thing for us, since nothing is bad unless it can be experienced as painful & the dead suffers from no pain?

Epicurus

who compares death to a dreamless sleep in which we are conscious of nothing, believing that in true death there is no second self that is alive & able to sorrow for self destroyed?

Lucretius

an argument given by Lucretius that we should not fear death since it is only a mirror image of the period of nonexistence preceding birth

symmetry argument

who believes that death is bad for us, as we have desires to satisfy & death prevents us from satisfying them?

Bernard Williams

a view that death is bad insofar as it deprives us of further goods in life

deprivation account

T/F; in the makropulos case, E.M claims her life is meaningless because she is immortal & has fulfilled all of her categorical desires in life, therefore she has no reason to live

true

things that propel us forward in life, our reasons for living

categorical desires

T/F; living forever = still living with categorical desires

false

what are the two kinds of harm?

experiencing suffering, being deprived of pleasure/good

a fallacy that relies on the ambiguity of a word or sentence in order to make the argument appear sound

fallacy of equivocation

argument for the immortality of the soul that depends on the idea that the soul cannot be divided into parts

argument from indivisibility

what theory states that there is no possibility of AI or aliens?

mind brain identity theory

what theory believes that strong AI is possible?

functionalism