Assignment - Mind Body Problem
Instructions: Please note that the questions below are based on the Unit readings and are intended to be both an outline of the units' material and the basis for your Unit Assessment, so please give your best effort to answering them thoroughly. The task is to respond to all 30 of the questions below. Each question will be worth one point.
The format for submission is to include the questions with the replies. Example:
How does one know what the good life is?
- The good life is...
1. List five common expressions that reinforce the idea of human beings having a mind and a body.
2. What did the French Philosopher Rene Descartes believe he had proven about minds?
3. What is the meaning of the Latin expression Cogito Ergo Sum?
4. What two substantially different realms of existence did Rene Descartes believe existed? And, how was the Brain and Mind divided in these realms?
5. List 5 characteristics of both the physical and non-physical realms.
6. Define Dualism, and explain the major philosophical problem that arises out of a dualistic perspective of reality.
7. Explain the problem of interaction of the Mind-Body Problem.
8. What was the function of Rene Descartes "Pineal Gland"?
9. What is the major obstacle to the "Pineal Gland" Theory?
10. What does the research of neuroscience indicate regarding the interactive relationship of the mind and body?
11. List the traditional and most logical options that respond to the Mind-Body Problem.
12. What are the possible approaches to the Mind-Body Problem?
13. What is Interactionism?
14. What is Epiphenomenalism?
15. Explain the Double Aspect Theory.
16. What is meant by Parallelism? Include in your response the theories of Pre-Established Harmony and Occasionalism.
17. What does "Monistic Materialism" hold to be true about the metaphysical status of the universe?
18. Research and define the following terms: Behaviorism, Logical Behaviorism, and Semantic Behaviorism.
19. Research and define the following terms: Functionalism, and Structuralism.
20. What does "Monistic Idealism" hold to be true about the metaphysical status of the universe?
21. What are some of the problems associated with Idealism?
22. What questions are considered in the philosophical sub category know as Philosophy of Mind?
23. What is meant by the term Physicalism?
24. List 3 objection to the following statement: "Since both computers and brains are computational/information processing devices, it should be possible, in principle, to build a computer that thinks."
25. What is the meaning given to John Searle's "Chinese Room Experiment"? (75-100 words)
26. How does Daniel Dennett's "New Epiphenomenalism" attempt to explain human consciousness?
27. What does philosopher Colin McGinn mean when he says we are "lacking the machinery" to understand human consciousness?
28. Explain the Quantum Consciousness: Theory of Roger Penrose.
29. Do you think that artificial intelligence can ever achieve humanlike consciousness? Explain your position.
30. Which approach to answering the Mind-Body Problem are you most in agreement with, if any?