Introduction to Philosophy EXAM 1

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Chapter 2 The Mind-Body Problem

Bodies  and  Minds  

•  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  interac;ons.  

•  But  what  about  what  goes  on  in  our  minds?   Can  our  thoughts  be  explained  physically?  

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Thought  Experiment:  Descartes’s  Mechanical   Moron  

•  Can  we  construct  a  machine  that  thinks?   •  Descartes  claims  that  no  machine  would  be   able  to  use  language  or  solve  problems  like  we   do.  

•  Do  you  agree?  Why  or  why  not?  

Thought  Experiment:  Leibniz’s   Mental  Mill  

•  Suppose  that  we  created   a  machine  that  thinks,   and  suppose  further  that   we  were  able  to  walk   around  inside  the   machine.  

•  Leibniz  claims  that   explaining  the  working  of   the  parts  of  the  machine   would  not  explain  its   thinking.  

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Thought  Probe:  Walking  Around   Inside  the  Brain  

•  Suppose  you  were  able  to  walk   around  inside  a  brain,  like  the   crew  from  the  movie  Fantas&c   Voyage.  

  •  Would  you  observe  thinking?  

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.  

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Section 2.1 The Ghost in the Machine

Mind as Soul

Cartesian  Dualism  

•  Cartesian  dualism  is  the  doctrine  that    mental   states  are  states  of  an  immaterial  substance   that  interacts  with  the  body.  

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Descartes’s  Doubt  

•  We  know  something  only  if  it’s  certain.   •  Most  of  what  we  think  we  know  is  based  on   sense  experience.  

•  But  we  can’t  be  certain  of  anything  we’ve   learned  through  sense  experience.  

Thought  Experiment:  Descartes’s  Dream   Argument  

•  “How  oNen  has  it  happened  to  me  that  in  the   night  I  dreamt  that  I  found  myself  in  this   par;cular  place…while  in  reality  I  was  lying   undressed  in  bed.”  

•  Can  you  be  certain  that  you’re  not  dreaming   right  now?  If  so,  how?  

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Thought  Experiment:  Descartes’s  Evil   Demon  

•  “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?”  

•  Can  you  be  certain  that  there  is  no  such   demon?  

“I  think,  therefore  I  am”  

•  Descartes  cannot  doubt  that  he  is  thinking,  for   doub;ng  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.”  

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The  Conceivability  Argument  

1.  Its  conceivable  for  me  to  exist  without  having  a   body.  

2.  Whatever  is  conceivable  is  possible.   3.  Therefore,  its  possible  for  me  to  exist  and  not  

have  a  body.   4.  If  its  possible  for  me  to  exist  without  having  a  

body,  then  having  a  body  is  not  essen;al  to  me.   5.  Therefore,  having  a  body  is  not  essen;al  to  me.  

The  Conceivability  Argument  

6.  Its  inconceivable  for  me  to  exist  without  having  a   mind.  

7.  Whatever  is  inconceivable  is  impossible.   8.  Therefore,  it’s  impossible  for  me  to  exist  and  not  

have  a  mind.   9.  If  it’s  impossible  for  me  to  exist  without  having  a  

mind,  then  having  a  mind  is  essen;al  to  me.   10.  Therefore,  having  a  mind  is  essen;al  to  me.  

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Cartesian  Dualism  

•  Descartes  has  proven  that  he  is  a  thing  that   thinks.  

•  But  physical  things,  he  claims,  cannot  think.   •  So,  he  concludes,  he  (his  mind)  is  a  non-­‐ physical  thing.  

Thought  Probe:   Animal  Soul  

•  Descartes  believed  that  only  humans  had   souls  because,  among  other  things,  only   humans  have  free  will.  

•  Do  you  agree?  Do  animals  have  souls?  

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Indiscernibility  of  Iden;cals  

•  The  indiscernibility  of  iden;cals  is  the   principle  that  if  two  things  are  iden;cal,   then  they  must  both  possess  the  same   proper;es.  

•  For  example,  if  Mark  Twain  is  iden;cal  to   Samuel  Clemens,  then  whatever  is  true  of   Mark  Twain  is  true  of  Samuel  Clemens   and  vice-­‐versa.  

The  Divisibility  Argument  

1.  If  minds  are  iden;cal  to  bodies,  then   whatever  is  true  of  minds  is  true  of  bodies,   and  vice  versa.  

2.  But  minds  are  indivisible  and  bodies  are   divisible.  

3.  Therefore,  minds  are  not  iden;cal  to  bodies.  

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The  Problem  of  Interac;on  

•  Descartes  believes   that  our  minds   affect  our  bodies,   and  vice  versa.  

•  But  how  can  a  non-­‐ physical  object   affect  a  physical   one?  

Parallelism  

•  One  way  to  deal  with  the  problem  of   interac;on  is  to  say  that  the  mind  and  body   only  seem  to  interact  with  each  other.  

•  According  to  parallelism,  mental  processes   and  physical  processes  run  parallel  to  each   other.  There  is  a  correla;on  between  mental   and  physical  events,  but  no  causal   interac;on.  

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Occasionalism  and  the   Preestablished  Harmony  

•  Occasionalism  is  the  parallelist  theory  of  the   mind  that  claims  the  correla;on  between  mental   and  physical  events  is  produced  on  each  occasion   by  God.  

•  Preestablished  harmony  is  the  parallelist  theory   of  mind  that  claims  that  the  correla;on  between   mental  and  physical  events  was  established  by   God  at  the  beginning  of  the  universe.  

The  Causal  Closure  of  the  Physical  

•  Descartes’  dualis;c  interac;onism  runs  afoul   of  a  basic  principle  of  materialism  known  as   the  “causal  closure  of  the  physical.”    

•  According  to  this  principle,  everything  can  be   explained  in  purely  physical  terms.  

•  Nevertheless,  people  do  have  thoughts,   feelings,  and  desires,  and  these  things  seem  to   be  nonphysical.  

•  How  can  we  reconcile  these  facts?  

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Epiphenomenalism  

•  Maybe  we  can  reconcile  them  by  admieng  the   existence  of  Cartesian  minds  and  denying  them   any  causal  power.  

•  According  to  epiphenomenalism,  the  mind  is  an   ineffec;ve  by-­‐product  of  physical  processes;  the   body  affects  the  mind,  but  the  mind  does  not   affect  the  body.  

The  Problem  of  Other  Minds  

•  Because  Cartesian  minds  have  no  physical   proper;es,  they  cannot  be  sensed  or  detected   by  any  physical  instruments.  

•  If  so,  Descartes  cannot  know  that  other   people  have  minds.  

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Solipsism  

•  The  only  mind  that  we  can  know  for  certain   exists  is  our  own.  

•  Some  have  made  the  further  claim  that  the   only  mind  that  exists  is  their  own.  This  is   known  as  solipsism.