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Chapter Two

Chapter Two. The Philosophical Approach: Enduring Questions. The philosophy perspective. Philosophy is the search for knowledge. It is the oldest discipline in cognitive science, tracing its origins back to the ancient Greeks. The branch of metaphysics examines the nature of reality.

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Chapter Two

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  1. Chapter Two The Philosophical Approach: Enduring Questions

  2. The philosophy perspective • Philosophy is the search for knowledge. • It is the oldest discipline in cognitive science, tracing its origins back to the ancient Greeks. • The branch of metaphysics examines the nature of reality. • The branch of epistemology is the study of knowledge.

  3. The mind-body problem • Describes the seeming incompatibility between the physical properties of the brain and the mental qualities of the mind. • The brain is material and physical and can be studied objectively. • The mind consists of subjective phenomena such as thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. • Is the mind physical?

  4. Monism • According to monism, the mind and the body are both made up of the same substance, either mental or physical. • Aristotle (384—322 B.C.) advocated a physical form of monism. He believed the mind and body were both physical. • He stated that aspects of mind correspond to the different physical states the brain assumes.

  5. Dualism • Plato (427—347 B.C.) was a dualist. • Dualism argues that mind and body are of two different natures; the brain is a physical substance and the mind is a mental substance. • Plato thought the body resided in a world that is material, extended, and perishable. • The mind, he believed, resided in anideal world of forms that was immaterial, non-extended, and eternal.

  6. Types of monism • Idealism. The mind and body both exist in a mental realm. There is no physical world. • Solipsism. A form of idealism in which the universe exists only in one’s mind. • Physicalism. Mind and body are both physical. There is no nonphysical world.

  7. Types of dualism • Classical dualism. Proposed by Descartes (1596—1650). The mind controls the body through the pineal gland. • Parallelism. Mind and body are isolated from each other and exist in parallel worlds. An unknown force synchronizes the two. • Epiphenomenalism. The brain causes the mind. In this view, the mind has no causal influence on the brain. • Interactionism. The mind and the body can mutually affect one another.

  8. Functionalism • A mind is the result of the execution of certain processes or functions. These functions can give rise to mind irregardless of the physical substrate in which they are embedded.

  9. Determinism • Determinism argues that all physical events are caused and determined by prior events. • The behavior of a determined physical system can be replicated and predicted.

  10. Free will • According to free will, we autonomously choose our course of action. • Human action is considered independent of preceding causal factors.

  11. Evaluating the free will-determinism debate • According to compatibilism human actions are preceded by causes but these constrain rather than determine our behavior. • Incompatibilism states that we cannot be truly free of preceding causal events. Determinism and free will can therefore not both be true.

  12. The knowledge acquisition problem • How does knowledge get into our heads? • According to nativism we are born with knowledge. • According to empiricism knowledge is acquired through experience. • The nature—nurture debate argues over the relative contribution of genetics and experience to any given trait.

  13. Consciousness-The ultimate mystery • Consciousness may be defined as the subjective quality of experience. What it is like for us to see, feel, think, etc. • The phenomenal concept of mind refers to this subjective aspect of mental life and may never be adequately explained. • The psychological concept of mind refers tohow the mind causes and explains behavior and is easier to study.

  14. What is it like to be a bat? There is something that it is like for a bat to experience echolocation.

  15. Emergent properties • The mind may be an emergent property of the brain. • Emergence occurs when the global properties of a system arise from the more local interaction of its parts. • Water emerges from the interaction of H2O molecules but cannot be explained entirely by their individual properties or interactions.

  16. Consciousness and neuroscience • Consciousness is the emergent property of neuronal activity (Popper & Eccles, 1981). • Consciousness may be the product of specialized consciousness neurons (Crick & Koch, 1995). • Other theories postulate the existence of a cortico-thalamic circuit in which information is passed recurrently between the cortex and thalamus.

  17. Consciousness and artificial intelligence • Can a machine become conscious? • According to the strong AI view, the answer is yes. It is a matter of building more complex, sophisticated machines. • According to the weak AI view, the answer is no. Consciousness is either nonphysical or is so complex it can never be reproduced artificially.

  18. The Chinese room scenario • Can a person who follows rules to translate Chinese ever understand the language?

  19. The multiple drafts theory of consciousness • Dennett argues that we are simultaneously processing information in multiple streams. • Consciousness therefore does not happen at any single place in the brain.

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