In the history of philosophy one of the most influential dualist views of the mind-body problem was put forward by Rene Descartes in his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Descartes supposed that the world was made up of mental and physical substances that were fundamentally distinct. Whereas physical substances were thought to be spatial and accessible to every being in the material world‚ mental substances were indivisible‚ private and not restricted to space so that humans could even image
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The knowledge argument is an argument against physicalism that was first formulated by Frank Jackson in 1982. While Jackson no longer endorses it‚ it is still regarded as one of the most important arguments in the philosophy of mind. Physicalism is the metaphysical thesis that‚ basically‚ everything in this world-including cars‚ humans‚ animals‚ research papers‚ even our sensations-are ultimately physical. The knowledge argument attempts to refute this thesis by appealing to the following made-up
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concept was initially developed by a religious man named Rene Descartes‚ who believed that the "intangible nature of the soul" interacted with our machine like bodies. His idea became interpreted as the relation between the mind and body‚ known as dualism. Although these two were distinct‚ they still had an interaction. Almost a hundred years later‚ La Mettrie‚ a physician came down with a fever‚ and noticed that his physical condition affected his mental state as well‚ known as materialism. He wrote
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Reductive Materialism: Reductive materialism is a ’sub theory ’ or a version of Physicalism. It suggests that sensations of the mind correlate exactly to physical ’movements ’ of the brain. In other words‚ every thought or experience which occurs in your mind‚ can be found as activity in your brain. This does not mean however‚ that the mind and the brain are the same thing‚ just that they are both different experiences of the same thing. For example‚ a neuroscientist may be able to study your
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I believe that Picard and Maddox share similarities on the materialistic view of Data’s human-like body but show many differences when I come to his mind. Picard explains to the court that Data’s attributes‚ intelligence‚ self-awareness‚ and consciousness‚ are all part of his mind. Though his brain is a materialistic computer that allows him to think like a human‚ however‚ his mind being un-materialistic allows him to be self-aware and have a consciousness like a normal human being makes him a sentient
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Jackson uses “qualia” as a main point to his deconstruction of Physicalism. Qualia are the “felt qualities” of an experience. Imagine there was a man named Yuri; Yuri has tasted pizza before. One day‚ his friend Eloisa eats pizza in front of him. When Yuri watches Eloisa eat pizza‚ he thinks that he can relate to what it is like for Eloisa to eat and taste pizza. But the truth is‚ according to Jackson‚ all that Yuri can do is remember what it was like for him and not what it is like for Eloisa. Even
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The debate between Physicalism and Anti-Physicalism has been an on going argument for a good amount of time. Physicalism is said to be the view that the all things are physical or they rely on other objects that are physical. Many philosophers who are said to be or seem to be anti-physicalists have argued against this theory. Anti-physicalists stance on the matter is that anything that pertains to the mind or the conscious cannot depend on physicality nor is physicality. Nagel has a stance on his
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Supporting a non-reductive physicalism: Anomalous monism According to Davidson “Anomalous monism resembles materialism in its claim that all events are physical‚ but rejects the thesis‚ usually considered essential to materialism‚ that mental phenomena can be given purely physical explanations” (Davidson‚ 1970/2002‚ p. 119) In other words‚ only the physical may be described by causal laws‚ but if a physical event is described as a mental event there is no causal law‚ and there are no psychophysical
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In "Waterland" Swift writes and elaborate on many characters but one in particular is showing a very interesting point regarding the mental instability and the fragility ones mind can reach. The character in question is the one of Mary Metcalfe. Swift‚ in “Waterland”‚ is writing in a very mysterious way‚ he only describes people at the most important and pertinent portion of their lives and the remainder is left to the readers imagination. He also surprises the reader by censoring fundamental information
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2. Arguments against physicalism In line with physicalism‚ a human being‚ including‚ of course‚ the brain‚ consists of merely physical substances. Not only the brain is described by physical characteristics‚ such as volume‚ weight and composition‚ but also the events that occur in the brain are physical‚ according to physicalists. For instance‚ in the nerve system the impulses are transmitted along connected neurons as a result of the electrical difference across their membranes. Physicalists further
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