Exam 4: Mind

Substance dualists think that there is a type of mental substance that is different from physical substance. What problem does Montero have with the idea of mental substance?

Do you agree with Taylor that it makes no sense to posit what must be added to a body to make it a person?

What is the point of Lewis's example of a device "rather like a clock radio"?

Property dualists think that there is no such thing as a special nonphysical substance.

Lewis argues that positing the existence of qualia is unnecessary when people already possess abilities to

Do you agree with Searle about whether computers can think? Explain.

What is the significance of the piece of wax? What conclusion does Descartes draw from this example?

We could define "physical" in terms of a future, complete physics in which all questions are answered. What those future physicists will agree on, that's what is physical. Why does Montero think that this won't work?

Transactions between mind and body, according to the "official doctrine,"

Explain why Montero thinks the body problem needs to be solved before we consider the mind-body problem. Do you agree?

What do you think is the best argument in favor of dualism? Explain it as if you were trying to persuade someone that dualism was "true".

Do you agree with Ryle that the "official doctrine" rests on a category mistake?

Jackson claims that by learning about Fred's optical system, we can learn what it is like to see the color he sees.

Does Searle believe that there is a sense in which machines can think? Explain.

Every form of dualism holds that

A category mistake involves

Turing argues that the argument from consciousness, in its most extreme form, entails

What is the imitation game? How is it supposed to apply to the question of whether machines can think? Do you agree with Turing's conclusion based on the imitation game?

Dualism is the view that the mind is real and the body is an illusion.

Jackson argues that as long as Mary has all the physical information there is to obtain in her black-and-white room, she will learn nothing new when she is released.