Final Exam Study Guide
Final Examination Study Guide
Argument Review:
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For each argument, be prepared to do the following: (1) State the argument. (2) State the support for each premise. Why should one, prima facie, think the premise true? (3) Describe how an opponent of the argument might respond. (4) Describe how an advocate of the argument might respond to the response.
Arguments:
(1) Knowledge (i.e. Color-Blind Mary) argument against physicalism
(2) Simplicity argument for the identity theory
(3) Causal argument for physicalism
(4) Innate knowledge argument against radical behaviorism
(5) Multiple realizability argument against the identity theory
(6) China brain argument against functionalism
(7) Chinese room argument against functionalism
(8) Zombie argument against physicalism
Short Answer:
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1. What is the difference between warrant and desirability? Provide an example of a mental state which is warranted but undesirable. Provide an example of a mental state which is desirable but unwarranted. Which do you think is a better guide to evaluating mental disorder? 2. What is the difference between consciousness and cognition? Why might the problem of accounting for consciousness be a harder problem for the physicalist than the problems associated with other mental phenomena?
3. Describe (at least) two criteria for evaluating a theory’s simplicity. Compare the identity theory to dualism using these two criteria.
4. What is the Turing test? What does it test for and how does it test it? What do you think of the test?
5.
What is a state-function machine? What are it's parts?
6. Functionalism and behaviorism have certain similarities. What is functionalism’s main advantage over behaviorism? Give an
Argument Review:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For each argument, be prepared to do the following: (1) State the argument. (2) State the support for each premise. Why should one, prima facie, think the premise true? (3) Describe how an opponent of the argument might respond. (4) Describe how an advocate of the argument might respond to the response.
Arguments:
(1) Knowledge (i.e. Color-Blind Mary) argument against physicalism
(2) Simplicity argument for the identity theory
(3) Causal argument for physicalism
(4) Innate knowledge argument against radical behaviorism
(5) Multiple realizability argument against the identity theory
(6) China brain argument against functionalism
(7) Chinese room argument against functionalism
(8) Zombie argument against physicalism
Short Answer:
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1. What is the difference between warrant and desirability? Provide an example of a mental state which is warranted but undesirable. Provide an example of a mental state which is desirable but unwarranted. Which do you think is a better guide to evaluating mental disorder? 2. What is the difference between consciousness and cognition? Why might the problem of accounting for consciousness be a harder problem for the physicalist than the problems associated with other mental phenomena?
3. Describe (at least) two criteria for evaluating a theory’s simplicity. Compare the identity theory to dualism using these two criteria.
4. What is the Turing test? What does it test for and how does it test it? What do you think of the test?
5.
What is a state-function machine? What are it's parts?
6. Functionalism and behaviorism have certain similarities. What is functionalism’s main advantage over behaviorism? Give an