Review Materials for Chapter 2 – The Mind-Body Problem Essay

Submitted By metalchronic
Words: 738
Pages: 3
Open Document
Section 2.1 - The Ghost in the Machine: Mind as Soul
1. Modern science has shown that what goes on in our bodies can be explained in physical terms, as the result of various electrochemical or biomechanical interactions.
But what about what goes on in our minds? Can our thoughts be explained physically?
2. Theories of Reality:
Idealism: the doctrine that all that exists are minds and their contents.
Materialism: the doctrine that all that exists are material objects.
Dualism: the doctrine that reality contains both mental and material things.
3. Cartesian dualism maintains that mental states are states of an immaterial substance that interacts with the body.
4. Descartes arrived at this view by considering how we come to know things.
We know something only if it’s certain.
Most of what we think we know is based on sense experence.
But we can’t be certain of anything we’ve learned through sense experience.
5. The Dream Thought Experiment:
“How often has it happened to me that in the night I dreamt that I found myself in this particular place…while in reality I was lying undressed in bed.”
6. The Evil Demon Thought Experiment:
“How do I know that [an evil demon] has not brought it to pass that there is no earth, no heaven, no extended body, no magnitude, no place, and that nevertheless they seem to me to exist just exactly as I now see them?”
7. Descartes cannot doubt that he is thinking, for doubting is a type of thinking.
And Descartes can’t doubt anything unless he exists.
So Descartes claims that he can be absolutely certain of one thing, namely, “I think, therefore I am.”
8. The Conceivability Argument
It’s conceivable for me to exist without having a body.
Whatever is conceivable is possible.
Therefore, it’s possible for me to exist and not have a body.
If it’s possible for me to exist without having a body, then having a body is not essential to me.
Therefore, having a body is not essential to me.
9. The Conceivability Argument
It’s inconceivable for me to exist without having a mind.
Whatever is inconceivable is impossible.
Therefore, it’s impossible for me to exist and not have a mind.
If it’s impossible for me to exist without having a mind, then having a mind is essential to me.
Therefore, having a mind is essential to me.
10. Descartes has proven that he is a thing that thinksBut physical things, he claims, cannot think.
So, he concludes, he (his mind) is a non-physical thing.
11. The Divisibility Argument
If minds are identical to bodies, then whatever is true of minds is true of bodies, and vice versa.
But minds are indivisible and bodies are divisible.
Therefore, minds are not identical to bodies.
12. The Problem of Interaction:
Descartes believes that our minds affect our bodies, and vice versa.
But how can a
Show More

Related Documents: Review Materials for Chapter 2 – The Mind-Body Problem Essay

Final Exam Notes Essay examples

circumstances. Fixed mindset - students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that's that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. Chapter 1 Global marketplace – competing with people from all over the world interconnected marketplace, where companies do business without regard to time zones and boundaries, and where companies from all over the world compete for business More education…

Words 5896 - Pages 24

Essay on 5 guidance Week 1

Ethics in a Changing World! Week Overview During Week 1, you will be asked to explore the concept of leadership (Chapter 1) and two main perspectives of leadership. The trait approach will be examined in Chapter 2 and the contingency approach will be considered in Chapter 3. You will also be asked to introduce yourself (Discussion 1) and participate in two discussion forums. Discussion 2 is devoted to an examination of the possible benefits and costs of a leader’s awareness of his/her strengths and…

Words 1756 - Pages 8

Hcs 430 Week 1

of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or the Department of Labor (DOL)? If any of these images come to mind, you are correct, because the law comes from all of these sources. While it would be nice if the law was located in one simple place, the reality is that the law is found in many places and comes from many sources. The three main sources of law are (1) court decisions referred to as case law, (2) legislative statutes put together into code books, and (3) federal regulations or state rules put…

Words 1395 - Pages 6

Greek: Marketing and Case Study Components Essay

/Wed., 2-3 p.m. REQUIRED TEXT: Cravens & Piercy, Strategic Marketing (ISBN: 978-0-07-338-100-8), 9th edition, 2009, McGraw-Hill. Online text available for purchase at: www.coursesmart.com. Readings Packet--to be provided to students by Professor. PREREQUISITE: Principles of Marketing (660.250). COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. To provide students with hands-on experience formulating, implementing and controlling a strategic marketing program for a given product-market entry through case analysis. 2. To…

Words 4266 - Pages 18

Identify And Analyze The Ethical And Social Responsibilities Of Communicators

Chapter 1: Building responsibility Communication- the process of sending and receiving messages ( in any manner that is clearly understood) Objectives: After completing the chapter, you will be able to do the following: • Identify and analyze the ethical and social responsibilities of communicators • Identify the components of the communication process and their functions • Explain the importance of effective communication skills in personal, professional, and social • Recognize your audience…

Words 3873 - Pages 16

DISS HANDBOOK 2014 15 Essay

ACCOUNTANCY BA FINANCE, INVESTMENT & RISK BA RISK MANAGEMENT Dissertation Tutors: Siobhan J White Sarah Laycock Shahid Nawaz Table of Contents Page 1. Introduction 1.1 Learning Outcomes 4 1.2 Module Structure 5 2. Research Methods 2.1 Learning Outcomes 5 2.2 Learning & Teaching Methods 6 2.3 Scheme of Work 7 2.4 Assessment 8 3. Supervision 3.1 Role of Supervisor & Student 9 3.2 Performance Monitoring 10 3.3 Issues with Supervision…

Words 7950 - Pages 32

Essay On Solid Waste Management

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study According to the UN-Habitat, state of the world’s cities, 2008/09, page 129, a major flood in Surat, India, in 1994 resulted in an outbreak of a plague-like disease, and the official inquiry cited uncollected solid waste of which plastics are of greater percentage blocking drains. The disease caused panic country-wide and while the citizens blame the municipality, the public authorities in turn blamed the citizens for their lack of civic sense…

Words 6108 - Pages 25

Differences Between Submissions, Proposals And Tenders

Reports and proposals After reading this chapter you should be able to: • Explain the differences and similarities between formats, types or sub-genres of reports • Explain the differences and similarities between reports and essays • Explain why documents need to contain an appropriate balance of information and persuasion • Demonstrate competence in writing a longer, analytical research report • Explain the differences between reports and submissions, proposals and tenders So you’ve got to…

Words 18548 - Pages 75

Examples Of General APA Guidelines

use 10-12 pt. Times New Roman font or a similar font. Include a page header in the upper right-hand of every page. To create a page header, type the first 2-3 words of the title of the paper, insert five spaces, then give the page number. Major Paper Sections Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References. Title Page Your title page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the title page flush-left, add…

Words 8075 - Pages 33

Auditing and Audit Procedures Essay

EXAM #1 STUDY GUIDE (CHAPTER 1-5) *Chapter 1—Introduction to Assurance & Financial Statement Auditing Auditing: analytical and logical skills; much more conceptual in nature; risk based assessments (RBA) Why is Auditing Necessary? House inspector analogy Provides reasonable assurance that financial statements are free from material misstatement Information asymmetry & conflicts of interest lead to information risk for the principal (absentee owner) Principal (Absentee Owner) provides capital…

Words 6939 - Pages 28