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How do you know you have a mind? How do you know the person next to you has a mind? What is a mind?...
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Transcript of How do you know you have a mind? How do you know the person next to you has a mind? What is a mind?...
How do you know you have a mind?
How do you know the person next to you has a mind?
What is a mind?
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
Today we will…
Examine the mind-body problem Distinguish between what people mean
by ‘mind’ and ‘body’ Discuss some different approaches to
the mind-body relationship including: Cartesian dualism Materialism (mind-brain identity) Emergentism
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What is the difference between ‘brain’ and ‘mind’?
First person ontology
I have sensations, thoughts, feelings,
intentions…
Third person ontology
A person is a body with a brain that behaves in
particular ways…
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Mental states
Are conscious They involve a subjective experience of
thinking, perceiving, imagining etc. Are private
They are not open to inspection by anyone other than the person who has them
Have ‘intentionality’ Are always ‘about’ something
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The mind-body problem
How can we account for the existence of both first and third-person ontologies?
“How can a thing have a point of view?” (Dennett, 2005)
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Cartesian dualism
Rene Descartes (1641)
Physical
Mechanistic
Non-physical
Free-willed
Pineal gland
Bodyres extensa
Mindres cogitans
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Cartesian dualism
Is it possible for something non-physical to affect something physical?
Is it legitimate to use the action of God in a solution to the mind-body problem?
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Materialism
Mind-brain identity theory Mental states are brain states. Brain
activity is necessary and sufficient to explain mental activity (Place, 1956).
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uk
Materialism
What evidence can we put forward to support the view that mental states are brain states?
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Materialism
What does the materialist view imply about free will?
If we provide a complete account of the brain processes that give rise to consciousness, will the mind-body problem have been solved?
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uk
Emergentism
O
HH
Liquidity
Wetness
Transparency
Water molecule
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Emergentism
A ‘plan’ for the termite mound is not held by any individual termite
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Emergentism
Conscious experience
An individual neurone is not conscious, but 100,000,000,000 neurones
interacting in certain ways may give rise to consciousness as an emergent
property
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An ‘emergentist’ is just a dualist who is too embarrassed to use the word ‘soul’.
Discuss.
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org.
uk
‘Yes, we have a soul. But it is made of lots of tiny robots.’ (Dennett, 2005)
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hlot
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org.
uk