Question 1

Epiphenomenalists believe that your beliefs and desires don't affect your actions.

Accepted Answer

Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events, such as beliefs and desires, are caused by physical events in the brain but do not themselves cause anything, including physical actions.

Question 2

Dualists argue that some mental phenomena-like sense experience-can't be reduced to the physical.

Accepted Answer

Dualists believe that mental phenomena and the physical world are fundamentally different, meaning that mental experiences cannot be fully explained by physical processes alone.

Question 3

According to Churchland, the biggest defect of substance dualism is that its characterization of the mind is almost entirely negative.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to Churchland, the biggest defect of...

Question 4

Ockham's Razor says that we should prefer the simpler hypothesis, all things being equal.

Accepted Answer

Ockham's Razor, also known as Occam's Razor, is a principle that suggests when faced with competing hypotheses that make the same predictions, the simpler one is preferable. This principle is based on the idea that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

Question 5

Emotion and consciousness are strongly affected when the brain is physically affected.

Accepted Answer

Physical changes or damage to the brain can significantly impact emotion and consciousness, as these functions are closely tied to brain activity and health.

Question 6

According to Churchland, dualism is the most widely held view of the mind among
A) Philosophers.
B) Scientists.
C) The public at large.
D) All of the above.

Accepted Answer

Churchland argues that dualism, the belief in the separation of mind and body, is most widely held among the general public rather than specifically among philosophers or scientists. This view reflects common intuitions and cultural beliefs about the nature of consciousness and identity.

Question 7

Every form of dualism holds that
A) The conscious mind is a nonphysical thing.
B) There is something nonphysical in the nature of consciousness.
C) The mind is the same thing as the brain.
D) Mental states have no effect on the physical world.

Accepted Answer

Dualism posits that there is a nonphysical aspect to consciousness, distinguishing it from purely physical entities.

Question 8

Descartes is a famous
A) Substance dualist.
B) Property dualist.
C) Epiphenomenalist.
D) Materialist.

Accepted Answer

Descartes is best known for his substance dualism, which posits that mind and body are fundamentally different kinds of substances: the mind is of a non-physical, thinking substance, and the body is of a physical, extended substance.

Question 9

A substance dualist believes that the mind is
A) The same thing as the brain.
B) A purely physical system with only physical properties.
C) A physical substance that has nonphysical properties.
D) A nonphysical substance with no mass or position in space.

Accepted Answer

Substance dualism posits that the mind is fundamentally different from the physical brain, suggesting it is a nonphysical entity without mass or spatial location, distinguishing it from purely physical objects.

Question 10

According to Churchland, __________ is a form of substance dualism.
A) Cartesian dualism.
B) Epiphenomenalism.
C) Popular dualism.
D) Both a and

Accepted Answer

Churchland argues that Cartesian dualism and popular dualism are both forms of substance dualism because they both posit the existence of two fundamentally different kinds of substance: physical substance and mental substance.

Question 11

One challenge substance dualism faces is explaining
A) How can a nonphysical substance interact with a physical body.
B) How can a physical system perform complex reasoning.
C) How can a physical system have nonphysical properties.
D) How can a mental state be reduced to a mere physical state.

Accepted Answer

Substance dualism posits that mind and body are fundamentally different kinds of substances: the mind is nonphysical, and the body is physical. The challenge it faces is explaining how these two distinct substances can interact, such as how mental intentions can cause physical actions.

Question 12

A property dualist believes that the mind is
A) A spiritual substance that has spatial properties.
B) A purely physical system with only physical properties.
C) A physical system that has nonphysical properties.
D) A nonphysical substance, with no mass or position in space.

Accepted Answer

Property dualism posits that while the mind is fundamentally a physical system (such as the brain), it possesses nonphysical properties or states (like consciousness) that are not reducible to physical properties.

Question 13

Property dualists focus on special mental properties such as
A) Telepathy or other parapsychological phenomena.
B) Physical events in the brain and nervous system.
C) Life after death or reincarnation.
D) Having a pain or having a sensation of red.

Accepted Answer

Property dualists argue that there are special mental properties, such as the subjective experience of pain or the sensation of color, that are not reducible to physical processes in the brain.

Question 14

According to the argument from introspection
A) Many major religions support the idea of an immaterial soul.
B) Our thoughts, desires, and emotions do not feel like physical properties of a neural system.
C) A nonphysical substance could not interact with a physical body.
D) Our mental properties must have evolved as humans evolved.

Accepted Answer

The argument from introspection suggests that our inner experiences (thoughts, desires, emotions) do not seem to be physical in nature, implying the existence of a non-physical aspect to our minds.

Question 15

According to the argument from irreducibility
A) Some mental phenomena can't be reduced to a merely physical explanation.
B) A nonphysical substance could not interact with a physical body.
C) Our mental properties must have evolved as humans evolved.
D) Dualism offers the only possible explanation of parapsychological phenomena.

Accepted Answer

The argument from irreducibility suggests that certain mental phenomena cannot be fully explained by physical processes alone, implying that there is an aspect of our mental life that goes beyond the physical.

Question 16

Descartes believed that a physical system such as a brain could never achieve human levels of reasoning and language use. Therefore, he concluded that our minds must be nonphysical substances. How does Churchland respond to this point?
A) Computers are good at reasoning and use computer languages, so Descartes was wrong.
B) Computers can only use simple artificial languages, so Descartes might have been right.
C) There are a lot of other things that computers can't do, so Descartes might have been right.
D) We know now that nonphysical substances are no good at reasoning, so Descartes was wrong.

Accepted Answer

Churchland responds by pointing out that computers, which are physical systems, are capable of reasoning and using computer languages, challenging Descartes' conclusion that reasoning and language use require nonphysical substances.

Question 17

Some dualists argue that their theory is the only way to explain parapsychological phenomena such as telepathy and telekinesis. How does Churchland respond to this argument?
A) He agrees that those phenomena are real, but can explain them without dualism.
B) He agrees that those phenomena are real and that dualism is best at explaining them.
C) He thinks those phenomena are probably not real, but if they were, dualism would be able to explain them.
D) He thinks those phenomena are probably not real, but if they were, dualism would have no explanation of them.

Accepted Answer

Churchland is skeptical about the reality of parapsychological phenomena and argues that even if they were real, dualism would not provide a satisfactory explanation for them.

Question 18

"Ockham's razor" forms an argument against dualism because
A) Dualism cannot explain all of the phenomena to be explained.
B) Dualism has fewer explanatory resources available.
C) A theory that matches world religions is preferable to a theory that does not.
D) A theory with just physical stuff is simpler than a theory with both physical and nonphysical stuff.

Accepted Answer

Ockham's razor is a principle that suggests preferring the simplest explanation that accounts for all the observed phenomena. Dualism, which posits both physical and nonphysical stuff (like mind and body as separate entities), is more complex than materialism, which only posits physical stuff. Therefore, according to Ockham's razor, a theory that only involves physical stuff (and not both physical and nonphysical stuff) is simpler and thus preferable.

Question 19

Churchland's argument from neural dependence points out that drugs and injuries affecting the brain can have very strong impacts on reasoning, emotion, and consciousness. He believes that this shows that reasoning, emotion, and consciousness
A) Don't involve any nonphysical properties.
B) Take place in the brain, not in a nonphysical mental substance.
C) Are mediative functions of the brain.
D) Can be explained by a dualist theory of mind.

Accepted Answer

Churchland's argument emphasizes that the effects of drugs and injuries on reasoning, emotion, and consciousness demonstrate that these processes are dependent on the physical brain, rather than a nonphysical mental substance, aligning with a materialist view of the mind.

Question 20

According to Churchland's argument from evolutionary history, humans are the result of evolution and
A) A nonphysical mind-substance would be an evolutionary disadvantage.
B) The human species hasn't been around long enough to evolve nonphysical minds.
C) Since evolution is a purely physical process, humans are purely physical creatures.
D) We used to have nonphysical minds, but have evolved since then.

Accepted Answer

Churchland's argument from evolutionary history posits that since evolution is a purely physical process, it follows that humans, being products of this process, are purely physical beings. This perspective emphasizes the continuity and consistency of physical processes in explaining human existence and capabilities.

Quiz 4: Mind

Epiphenomenalists believe that your beliefs and desires don't affect your actions.

Dualists argue that some mental phenomena-like sense experience-can't be reduced to the physical.

According to Churchland, the biggest defect of substance dualism is that its characterization of the mind is almost entirely negative.

Ockham's Razor says that we should prefer the simpler hypothesis, all things being equal.

Emotion and consciousness are strongly affected when the brain is physically affected.

According to Churchland, dualism is the most widely held view of the mind among

Every form of dualism holds that

Descartes is a famous

A substance dualist believes that the mind is

According to Churchland, __________ is a form of substance dualism.

One challenge substance dualism faces is explaining

A property dualist believes that the mind is

Property dualists focus on special mental properties such as

According to the argument from introspection

According to the argument from irreducibility

Descartes believed that a physical system such as a brain could never achieve human levels of reasoning and language use. Therefore, he concluded that our minds must be nonphysical substances. How does Churchland respond to this point?

Some dualists argue that their theory is the only way to explain parapsychological phenomena such as telepathy and telekinesis. How does Churchland respond to this argument?

"Ockham's razor" forms an argument against dualism because

Churchland's argument from neural dependence points out that drugs and injuries affecting the brain can have very strong impacts on reasoning, emotion, and consciousness. He believes that this shows that reasoning, emotion, and consciousness

According to Churchland's argument from evolutionary history, humans are the result of evolution and