Question 1

Behaviorism is the idea that __________.

Accepted Answer

Behaviorism focuses solely on observable behavior and rejects the importance of mental processes or states. Therefore, only what can be observed can be used as evidence in research regarding humans.

Question 2

The key to Ryle's analysis is __________.

Accepted Answer

Ryle's analysis is centered around the concept of dispositions, arguing against the Cartesian dualism of mind and body by suggesting that mental states are dispositions to behave in certain ways rather than non-physical entities.

Question 3

The quote below belongs to__________ .
"Since brains do produce minds, and since programs by themselves can't produce minds, it follows that the way the brain does it can't be by simply instantiating a computer program."

Accepted Answer

This quote is known as Searle's Chinese Room argument, which he introduced in his paper "Minds, Brains, and Programs" in 1980. It argues against the idea that a computer program alone can produce true understanding or consciousness.

Question 4

If you believe that Data, the android on the TV show Star Trek, is sentient and conscious, even though his "brain" is made out of silicon and metal, then you would be a(n) __________.

Accepted Answer

A functionalist believes that consciousness arises from the function of the brain or any system that can perform functions like the brain, regardless of the physical substance it is made of. Data's consciousness can be attributed to the functions performed by his artificial brain, which makes functionalism the most suitable option of the given choices. Eliminative materialism denies the existence of consciousness, identity theory holds that consciousness can only arise from physical substances like the brain, and dualism posits that consciousness and physical substances are two separate entities.

Question 5

Incorrigibility is the term philosophers, especially Descartes, have given to __________.

Accepted Answer

Incorrigibility refers to the immediate certainty we have of our own conscious experiences. It essentially means that we cannot be wrong about the fact that we are having a particular experience at a particular moment. Descartes believed that this incorrigible knowledge of our own mind was the foundation of all other knowledge.

Question 6

How did Freud's concept of the "unconscious" raise doubts about Descartes's claim that whatever is mental can be described as incorrigible?

Accepted Answer

Freud's concept of the unconscious suggests that there are mental processes and ideas that are not accessible to our conscious awareness. This contradicts Descartes's claim that whatever is mental can be described as incorrigible because if there are ideas in our minds that we cannot know or access consciously, then we cannot be certain that all of our mental activity is incorrigible. Therefore, option C is the best choice.

Question 7

Intentionality may be defined as __________.

Accepted Answer

Intentionality refers to the property of being about something, such as a thought or a perception. Option A (volition) refers to the act of making a conscious choice or decision. Option B (temporality) refers to the concept of time, and option C (privileged access) refers to special knowledge or insight that is not available to everyone.

Question 8

Elizabeth V. Spelman uses __________ hierarchical account of the relationship between mind and body to illustrate how the problem of mind and body can impact other philosophical views.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Elizabeth V. Spelman uses __________ hierarchical account...

Question 9

When Aristotle wrote about the soul, he was referring to __________.

Accepted Answer

Aristotle's concept of the soul is closely tied to his theory of form; he considered the soul to be the form of a living being, which explains its functions and characteristics.

Question 10

According to Galen Strawson, consciousness consists of two elements, __________.

Accepted Answer

Galen Strawson's theory of consciousness consists of two elements: sensations and intentionality. Sensations refer to the raw feelings or experiences that we have, while intentionality refers to the directedness or aboutness of our mental states towards objects in the external world. This theory is known as perceptual direct realism, as it suggests that our perceptions directly correspond to the external world.

Question 11

__________ warns us not to slide form distinguishing between mind and body to formulating dubious views about the inferiority of some groups of people relative to others.

Accepted Answer

This statement is in line with the argument made by Elizabeth V. Spelman in her book "Inessential Woman: Problems of Exclusion in Feminist Thought." She cautions against using biological differences between men and women to justify societal hierarchies and discriminatory practices.

Question 12

The notion that a mind can be instantiated in anything that functions like a brain is called __________.

Accepted Answer

The notion that a mind can be instantiated in anything that functions like a brain is known as multiple realizability. This refers to the idea that mental states and processes can be realized in multiple different physical systems, not just in the brain, but in other systems that function in similar ways.

Question 13

According to Ryle, it is a necessary feature of whatever has physical existence that it is in __________.

Accepted Answer

Ryle asserts that physical existence requires being in both space and time. He argues that things that exist only in space, such as imaginings, and thing that exist only in time, such as regrets, cannot be classified as having physical existence.

Question 14

Husserl's conception of consciousness depends on __________.

Accepted Answer

Husserl's conception of consciousness depends on intentionality, which is the feature of consciousness that it is always directed towards an object or state of affairs in the world.

Question 15

__________ claimed that our experiences and ideas were one aspect of some events or activities of which the various chemical reactions of the brain were another aspect. This theory has often been called the dual aspect theory.

Accepted Answer

Bertrand Russell is associated with the dual aspect theory, which suggests that mental and physical events are two aspects of the same underlying reality.

Question 16

__________ offered the solution that there was no mind-body interaction and that monads were not physical. God programmed us so that our mental activities and our so-called bodily activities were exactly coordinated. This is called parallelism.

Accepted Answer

This view is known as Leibniz's parallelism.

Question 17

__________ claimed that his various fleeting thoughts could not be unified into a coherent, enduring self without the intervention of a higher power.

Accepted Answer

This statement is consistent with the philosophy of René Descartes, who believed that the mind and body were separate entities and that the mind could only be unified through the intervention of God. Descartes also believed in the existence of innate ideas and that knowledge could be acquired through rational reflection, which is consistent with his assertion that fleeting thoughts need to be unified into a coherent self.

Question 18

__________ believed that belief in consciousness went back to the ancient days of superstition and magic.

Accepted Answer

John Watson, a founder of behaviorism, argued against the introspective methods of studying the mind, dismissing the importance of consciousness and equating it with ancient superstitions and magic. He believed in focusing on observable behavior instead.

Question 19

Nagel claims that the fact that an organism has conscious experience at all means that there is something it is like to __________ that organism.

Accepted Answer

Nagel's argument is that there is a subjective or first-person aspect to conscious experience - there is something it is like to be the organism having that experience. Therefore, the best choice is B: be.

Question 20

Descartes's account of mental changes causing bodily changes, and vice versa is called __________.

Accepted Answer

Descartes's account of mental changes causing bodily changes, and vice versa is known as causal interactionism. This theory proposes that the mind and body are separate substances that interact, meaning changes in one can cause changes in the other. This is in contrast to parallelism, which posits that mental and physical events occur independently of one another, and epiphenomenalism, which argues that mental states are a byproduct of physical states and do not cause any changes themselves. Functionalism, on the other hand, is a theory that views mental states as functional states in relation to their inputs and outputs.

Quiz 4: Mind and Body