Chapter 1: Dualism
Q: What is Substance Dualism?
A: The idea that the mind and body are distinct substances (Descartes).
Q: What is Property Dualism?
A: The belief that mental states are properties of the physical brain but are not reducible to physical states.
Q: What is Epiphenomenalism?
A: The view that mental states are caused by physical states but do not influence physical states.
Q: What is Descartes’ Argument from Doubt?
A: The argument that if I can doubt my body’s existence but not my mind’s, they must be different.
Q: What is the Interaction Problem in Dualism?
A: The challenge of explaining how a nonphysical mind interacts with a physical body.
Q: What is the Explanatory Weakness of Dualism?
A: Dualism fails to explain how mental states arise or interact with each other.
Chapter 2: Behaviorism
Q: What is Philosophical Behaviorism?
A: The belief that mental states are behavioral dispositions.
Q: What is Methodological Behaviorism?
A: The idea that psychological study should focus only on observable behavior.
Q: What was the Behaviorist Revolution?
A: The movement that rejected introspection as unreliable and emphasized observable behavior (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner).
Q: What is the Behaviorist Manifesto (Watson, 1913)?
A: The idea that psychology should be objective and focus only on observable behavior.
Q: What is Classical Conditioning?
A: Learning through association (Pavlov).
Q: What is Operant Conditioning?
A: Behavior shaped by reinforcement and punishment (Skinner).
Q: What are Token Economies?
A: Using reinforcement principles in practical applications.
Q: What is Logical Behaviorism (Ryle)?
A: The view that mental states should be defined in terms of behaviors.
Q: What is the Criticism of Radical Behaviorism?
A: It fails to account for internal mental experiences (qualia) and subjective consciousness.
Q: What is Chomskyâs critique of Skinners behaviorism?
A: Chomsky argued that language acquisition cannot be explained solely by behaviorist principles.
Chapter 3: The Identity Theory
Q: What is the Identity Theory?
A: The view that the mind is identical to the brain; mental states are physical brain states.
Q: What is Type Identity in the Identity Theory?
A: The belief that each mental state corresponds to a specific type of brain state.
Q: What is Restricted Type Identity?
A: The idea that different species may have different physical realizations of the same mental state.
Q: What is Token Identity?
A: The view that each instance of a mental state corresponds to an individual brain state.
Q: What is the Multiple Realization Problem?
A: The idea that mental states can be realized in different physical systems (e.g., humans vs. AI).
Q: What are examples of Brain Injury & Mind Injury?
A: Phineas Gage (prefrontal cortex damage) and H.M. (medial temporal lobe removal).
Q: What is Ontological Simplification through reduction?
A: Explaining higher-level theories through more fundamental theories, like reducing optics to electromagnetic theory.
Chapter 4: Functionalism
Q: What is Functionalism?
A: The view that mental states are defined by their causal role in processing information, not by their physical composition.
Q: How does Functionalism relate to the Turing Machine model?
A: The mind is modeled as a system of inputs, states, and outputs, much like a Turing machine.
Q: What are the Pros of Functionalism?
A: It avoids the problems of the identity theory, especially multiple realizability.
Q: What are the Cons of Functionalism?
A: It does not fully explain consciousness, such as qualia.
Chapter 5: The Computational Theory of Mind (CTM)
Q: What is the Computational Theory of Mind (CTM)?
A: The view that mental processes are analogous to symbol manipulation in a computer.
Q: What is the difference between Syntactic and Semantic processing in CTM?
A: Syntactic processing involves the structure of symbols, while semantic processing concerns the meaning of those symbols.
Q: What are the Pros of CTM?
A: It explains reasoning and problem-solving.
Q: What are the Cons of CTM?
A: It does not explain subjective experience, as highlighted by Searle’s Chinese Room Argument.
Chapter 8: Physicalism and Supervenience
Q: What is Physicalism?
A: The view that everything, including mental states, is ultimately physical.
Q: What is Supervenience?
A: The idea that mental properties depend on physical properties but are not reducible to them.
Q: What is the Explanatory Gap?
A: The problem that physicalism struggles to fully explain consciousness.
Ontological Simplification through Elimination
Q: What is the goal of Ontological Simplification through elimination?
A: Refining explanations by eliminating unnecessary entities or concepts (e.g., eliminating the idea of phlogiston in favor of oxidation theory).
Q: What is the view of Eliminativists (e.g., Churchlands)?
A: The belief that mental states don’t exist and need a new scientific vocabulary.
Fictionalism
Q: What is Fictionalism in the context of mental states?
A: The view that mental states don’t exist, but it’s useful to act as if they do.
Q: What are Dennett’s Three Stances?
A:
1. Physical Stance: Examining physical mechanisms.
2. Design Stance: Understanding functions and purposes.
3. Intentional Stance: Assuming rational behavior in others.