Billanook College
VCE Philosophy, Unit 3
SAC Outcome 1b:
Thomas Nagel, ‘What’s it like to be a bat?’
On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss
concepts relating to the mind, psyche and body, and analyse and
evaluate viewpoints and arguments concerning the relationship
between the mind and body, and psyche and body, found within and
across the set texts and in contemporary debates.
Date:
Wednesday, March 11th
Time frame:
5 minutes reading time
40 minutes writing time
Conditions:
Bring in pens only
Answer all questions in this booklet. You may request spare paper to
continue your answers if it is needed.
5 x short answer questions
This SAC is worth a total of 10 marks for Unit 3
Name: __________________________
Question 1 (2 marks)
Outline Nagel’s argument against taking up a physicalist view of the mind and consciousness
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Question 2 (3 marks)
Summarise Nagel’s analogy of the caterpillar and the butterfly and explain what it is intended
to show.
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Question 3 (3 marks)
Compare Smart’s and Nagel’s views on science and the role it can play in resolving the mindbody problem.
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Question 4 (3 marks)
A fundamental principle on which Smart’s paper is based is that of parsimony – or the rule of
Ockham’s Razor. How would Nagel respond to Smarts contention that the simplest
explanation is the most likely to be the true one in the philosophy of mind?
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Question 5 (4 marks)
(a) Briefly explain the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness.
1 mark
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(b) Daniel Dennett maintains that there is no special ‘hard problem’ of consciousness and we
simply need to give neuroscientists more time to come up with a more detailed and
nuanced physicalist account of the mind.
How might Nagel respond to this suggestion, and why?
3 marks
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Extra space for responses (clearly label each answer):
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_______ / 15 marks
* This will be converted to a percentage in order to obtain your score out of 10 for this SAC.
** Your total coursework score will be moderated against the final exam and may therefore change.
Teacher comment:
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