Question 1

Differentiate between two senses in which an occurrence was said to be explained, according to Ryle. For instance: Why did the glass break? One explanation is "because a stone hit it," and another is "because it is brittle." Which explanation is causal, and which is expressing an underlying law like proposition? How did Ryle apply this concept of "different senses of an explanation" to the concept of "disposition" in his analysis of the mind?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Differentiate between two senses in which an...

Question 2

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)  eliminative materialist 
B)  identity theorist 
C)  functionalist 
D)  dualist

Question 3

J. J. C. Smart argued that the identity theory was false because it was incompatible with modern science.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

__________, in all forms, becomes nonsense in one's own case when one is trying to understand and talk about one's own mental states.

Accepted Answer

The answer of __________, in all forms, becomes nonsense in...

Question 5

Husserl's conception of consciousness depends on __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  intentionality 
B)  incorrigibility 
C)  dual aspect theory 
D)  multiple realizability

Question 6

Why do you suppose it was much easier for Descartes to prove the existence of his own mind than anyone else's? Why was Descartes's proof of his own mental existence foundational? How did he eventually argue for the existence of other minds?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why do you suppose it was much...

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

A)  the unconscious mind 
B)  the form of the body 
C)  the spirit within the body 
D)  the bottom of the feet

Question 8

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

Accepted Answer

A)  Descartes 
B)  Leibniz 
C)  Husserl 
D)  Russell

Question 9

Behaviorism is the idea that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  all of our mental acts are knowable 
B)  our mental acts determine our behavior 
C)  only what is observable can be used as evidence in research regarding humans 
D)  the mind and body causally interact

Question 10

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

Accepted Answer

A)  space but not necessarily time 
B)  time but not necessarily space 
C)  neither space nor time 
D)  space and time

Question 11

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

A)  know 
B)  be 
C)  fear 
D)  understand

Question 12

In reference to the "contents" of consciousness philosopher William James developed this popular phrase, __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In reference to the "contents" of consciousness...

Question 13

Differentiate between the two senses of the meaning of "identity," that is, empirical identity could be discovered through observation, experimentation, and experience, whereas logical identity is about synonymous terminology.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Differentiate between the two senses of the...

Question 14

The __________ denied dualism by insisting that mental terms referred to a neurological process that scientists someday would be able to specify precisely.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The __________ denied dualism by insisting that...

Question 15

Ryle believed that it was a mistake to think that "the mind" and its events were some strange and mysteriously private sort of thing behind our behavior when, in fact, the mind was the pattern of our behavior and not "behind" behavior at all.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

According to Ryle, attributing a mental property to someone is logically equivalent to saying that the person will act in a certain way.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

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

Accepted Answer

A)  John Watson 
B)  Gilbert Ryle 
C)  Galen Strawson 
D)  Bertrand Russell

Question 18

According to Ryle, a(n) __________ is a tendency for something to happen given certain conditions.

Accepted Answer

A)  attitude 
B)  disposition 
C)  behavior 
D)  determination

Question 19

__________ believed that with our increasing knowledge of neurology, our ordinary language would be seriously revised.

Accepted Answer

The answer of __________ believed that with our increasing knowledge...

Question 20

Why do eliminative materialists believe that a smooth intertheoretic reduction between folk psychology and neurobiology is not possible? They don't think that mental states, such as thoughts, desires, fears, beliefs, and so forth, match up in a one-to-one correspondence to brain states (i.e., particular patterns of neuronal firings). Paul Churchland, for one, was convinced that folk-psychological terms were not simply incomplete representations of our inner states but rather that they were misrepresentations, in the way phlogiston was. Use the phlogiston example to argue the eliminative materialist's case that the poverty of our current conceptual framework will be overhauled with the advancement of neuroscience.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why do eliminative materialists believe that a...

Exam 4: Mind and Body

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) __________.

J. J. C. Smart argued that the identity theory was false because it was incompatible with modern science.

__________, in all forms, becomes nonsense in one's own case when one is trying to understand and talk about one's own mental states.

Husserl's conception of consciousness depends on __________.

Why do you suppose it was much easier for Descartes to prove the existence of his own mind than anyone else's? Why was Descartes's proof of his own mental existence foundational? How did he eventually argue for the existence of other minds?

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

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

Behaviorism is the idea that __________.

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

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

In reference to the "contents" of consciousness philosopher William James developed this popular phrase, __________.

Differentiate between the two senses of the meaning of "identity," that is, empirical identity could be discovered through observation, experimentation, and experience, whereas logical identity is about synonymous terminology.

The __________ denied dualism by insisting that mental terms referred to a neurological process that scientists someday would be able to specify precisely.

Ryle believed that it was a mistake to think that "the mind" and its events were some strange and mysteriously private sort of thing behind our behavior when, in fact, the mind was the pattern of our behavior and not "behind" behavior at all.

According to Ryle, attributing a mental property to someone is logically equivalent to saying that the person will act in a certain way.

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

According to Ryle, a(n) __________ is a tendency for something to happen given certain conditions.

__________ believed that with our increasing knowledge of neurology, our ordinary language would be seriously revised.