Philosophy 1010
Class #6 – 1/28/13
Title:
Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor:
Paul Dickey
E-mail Address: pdickey2@mccneb.edu
Tonight:
Hand Back Quizzes
Videos
Finish Chapter Two Discussion
Midterm Exam
Next Week
Overview & Introduction to Chapter 3
Read:
from sections 3.1, & 3.2 (pp. 134-140, 144-150)
Sections 3.3 & 3.4 (all pages)
Homework:
Discuss in a 1-2 page (one full page!) essay how
the philosophical view of Pragmatism discussed
in the text is like and/or unlike what pragmatism
means to you in your day-to-day life. THINK!
Video:
Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness –
Schopenhauer on Love
Chapter 2
On Human Nature:
A Metaphysical Study
What is it to be Human?
What is a Person?
What is a Self? What is a Soul?
What is a Person Worth?
The Traditional Western View
• The Prevalent View Regarding the Nature of Man Makes
Four Basic Claims:
1)
That the self is conscious and has a purpose
2)
That the self is distinct from the body,
but somehow is related.
3)
That the self endures through time.
4)
That the self has an independent existence from
other selves
The Dualist View of Human Nature
•
The Dualist View is an ancient view that can be
traced back to Plato and the Traditional Rationalist
View of Human Nature.
•
A developed, systematic view of Dualism was best
expressed by Rene Descartes (1596-1650).
•
Descartes argues that he can imagine his self
without a body, thus the self is not the body. We
cannot think of the self without thought which is
immaterial. Thus, the mind and body must be
distinct.
•
Descartes further argues that the mind or “soul” is
the essential form of the self and could exist without
the body.
•
I think, therefore I am.
The Mind-Body Problem
•
So how can the mind as a non-physical entity cause
the physical body to act and how can the physical
body cause changes in the state of the mind?
•
Can the mind add energy or force to the physical
world?
But that is exactly what seems to happen when I
decide to move my hand and then move it.
•
How can a physical body alter a state of
consciousness or thought?
But that is exactly what seems to happen when a fly
buzzes near my head and I become annoyed.
Cartesian Dualism on the Mind-Body Problem
•
Descartes suggested that the mind/body
interacts through the pineal gland, a small
gland near the brain by being so small that
an immaterial mind could move it.
•
But the problem still seems to remain! No
matter how small a physical object is, it is of
course still a physical object.
Responses to Cartesian Dualism
•
Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) denied that the
mind and body actually do interact. They only
appear to do so.
•
Leibniz argued that the mind and the body
operate in parallel universes like synchronized
clocks.
•
Nicholas Malebranche (1683-1715) argued that
such a synchronism could not occur by
coincidence. Only by the constant act of God
could the two worlds be kept parallel.
Video:
Is Mind Distinct From the Body?
Descartes & The Scientific Revolution
In 1636, a Hobbes travels to Italy where he may
have met with Galileo. With the influence of Galileo,
Hobbes develops his social philosophy on principles
of geometry and natural science.
Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642),
was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer,
and philosopher who played a major role in the
Scientific Revolution. Galileo has been called the
"father of modern observational astronomy", the "father
of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the
Father of Modern Science“
Galileo proposes that physics should be a “new
science” based on methods of observation not just on
the methods of reason.
Materialism
•
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) rejects Cartesian
dualism claiming that Descartes Mind/Body
problem itself refutes dualism.
•
Since mind and body cannot interact, they
cannot both exist within human nature.
•
There can only be one realm of human nature
and that is the material world.
•
All human activities, including the mental, can
be explained on the paradigm of a machine.
Materialism
•
Hobbes was reductionist in that he believed that one
kind of purported reality (the mind) could be understood
entirely in terms of another (matter).
•
New scientific techniques of observation and
measurement being used by Galileo, Kepler, and
Copernicus were making giant strides in understanding
the universe.
•
The spirit of his century suggested to Hobbes that all
reality would be explained in time in terms only of the
observable and the measurable.
•
Hobbes himself was unable to explain any mental
processes in terms of the physical.
•
Perhaps motivating Hobbes’ view was basically his
passionate faith in the advancement of science at the
time.
Materialism
• Let’s discuss briefly four different modern versions of
Materialism as applied to the Mind/Body problem:
1)
The Mind/Brain Identity Theory
2)
Behaviorism
3)
Functionalism
4)
The Computer Model
The Mind/Brain Identity Theory
•
Hobbes’ materialism became a research strategy for
the sciences and modern philosophy. One prominent
form of 20th century materialism is known as The
Identity Theory.
•
The Identity Theory claims that states of mind (e.g.
consciousness) are identical with states of the brain.
Someday science will discover what states of the
mind (e.g. “desiring, “being happy,” etc) coincide with
particular states of the brain.
•
A prime proponent of the Identity Theory is J.J.C.
Smart (1920-)
•
The relationship between brain states and mind states
is “contingent” or empirical and not “necessary” or
logical. It is a subject of science, not philosophy. It
cannot be understood by clarifying the meanings of
our words or through reason alone.
The Mind/Brain Identity Theory
•
Although materialism is a strong force in philosophy to
this day, not all modern philosophers “buy in” to the
Identity Theory.
•
Norman Malcolm (1911-1990) argues against the
Mind/Brain Identity Theory.
•
He claims that mental states have no location in
space like brain states do. Thoughts require abstract
context such as rules and practices, mutual
understandings between parties, and assumptions.
Since brain events do not, then brain states cannot
ever be identical to mental states.
Behaviorist View of Human Nature
•
Behaviorism is a second form of Materialism.
•
Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976) claimed in his book
The Concept of Mind that mental activities and
states can be explained in terms of the
external, observable behaviors with which
they are associated.
•
For Ryle, to say that a person loves someone
is only to say that she is likely to behave in
certain ways to the other person. Note that
this does not refer to any states of
consciousness.
Behaviorist View of Human Nature
•
Ryle would tell us that this has to be so because
otherwise it would be impossible for us even to we
learn the meaning of love, or even pain or fear. We
cannot do so by referring to states of consciousness
because we cannot know such states in others.
•
Hilary Putnam (1926 - ) provides a counter-argument
to Ryle -- Imagine a super-actor who can give a
perfect imitation of someone in pain but does not feel
pain or a super-Spartan who can endure pain without
showing it. Putnam says the behaviorist would have
to deny the possibility of these events. Surely that is
wrong.
•
Thus, Putnam argues that behaviorism throws out
the baby (consciousness) with the bath water.
Functionalist View of Human Nature
•
Functionalism is a third form of materialism that is
inspired by the model of the modern computer and is
reminiscent of Aristotle’s teleological explanations.
•
D. M. Armstrong (1926 - ) argues that mental
activities and states can be explained in terms of
perceptual inputs and behavioral outputs.
•
Mental state are the connections that the material
brain makes between certain inputs and outputs.
That is, our “consciousness” is not a separate
existence but is like the “purpose” of the brain
activities.
•
Or in other words, conscious mental states and
activities refer only to the functions that are served in
the processes connecting sensory inputs and
behavior outputs.
Computer View of Human Nature
•
A view closely related to Functionalism is the view that
humans indeed are sophisticated computers.
•
This view proposes that the mind is a computer following
a program that generates outputs when given certain
inputs.
•
Alan Turing (1912-1954) has suggested the Turing Test as
a criteria to determine whether computers have minds.
•
According to Turing, when a computer is able to provide
outputs that are indistinguishable in its answers from the
answers of a human being, it would be entirely
appropriate to say that the computer has a mind.
•
Turing believed it was only a matter of time before we
would have such computers.
Computer View of Human Nature
•
John Searle (1932 - ) proposes the Chinese Room as a
counter argument.
•
Searle asserts that a person following a program that
outputs the right Chinese characters when given certain
Chinese inputs may not understand Chinese.
•
Thus, Searle argues that Turing’s view in the end, does
not provide a fully adequate account of consciousness.
•
Searle however does not slide back into Dualism.
Instead, he claims that consciousness is a unique kind
of human quality and someday science will explain how
the brain produces it. It is not reducible to the physical
reality of the brain but the brain does in fact produce it.
The Traditional Western View
• The Prevalent View Regarding the Nature of Man Makes
Four Basic Claims:
1)
That the self is conscious and has a purpose
2)
That the self is distinct from the body, but somehow is
related.
3)
That the self endures through time.
4)
That the self has an independent existence from other
selves
Is There An Enduring Self?
•
Descartes argues that the enduring self is the soul, an
enduring immaterial being or existence.
•
John Locke (1632-1704) says that the enduring self is
a based only on our having continuous memory.
•
Buddhism asserts that nothing in the universe,
particularly the self, remains the same from one
moment to the next.
•
David Hume (1711-1776) also denies that there is an
enduring self. He argues that only what we perceive
exists and that we never perceive an enduring self, only
a constant flow of perceptions.
The Traditional Western View
• The Prevalent View Regarding the Nature of Man Makes
Four Basic Claims:
1)
That the self is conscious and has a purpose
2)
That the self is distinct from the body, but somehow is
related.
3)
That the self endures through time.
4)
That the self has an independent
existence from other selves
Is the Self Independent or Relational?
•
Descartes argues that the self exists independently of
others and the independent self can judge the truth
about what is.
•
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) suggests that the self is
the ability to choose independently of others, and not
being determined by conforming to others.
Georg W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) proposes that the self
is relational. A person is only free and independent if
others recognize him or her to be so.
•
Charles Taylor (1931- ) argues that we depend on
others for the very definition of what our real self is.
Break!