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What are dependent beings and self-existent (independent) beings; and which argument for the existence of God are these concepts used for?
- Dependent Being- One whose existence is explained by something else
- Independent Being- One whose existence is not dependent on anything else
- Cosmological Argument
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What is fictionalism and which philosopher that we discussed is associated with this view?
- Fictionalism is that the self does not endure over time
- Parfit
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What is the teleological argument and how does it differ from the cosmological argument?
- Teleological-There is evidence of design/purpose in the natural world; therefore there must be a creator who made things for a purpose
- Cosmological-The very existence of the universe---the fact that there’s something rather than
- nothing---shows that god exists
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What does Hume take to be the four sources of order? What is meant by the claim that one of them is “fundamental?
- Intelligence
- Instinct
- Vegetation
- Generation
- Design claims that intelligence is fundamental but Hume claims that each one is as fundamental as the other
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What is Clifford’s view about belief on the basis of faith without evidence?
- Evidentialism
- it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence” It is morally wrong---a “sin against mankind”---to believe on the basis of faith
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Explain John Locke’s psychological continuity theory of personal identity. Explain, briefly, one problem with this view
- I am an ongoing psychological process linked by memory
- amnesia
- Transativity of Identitiy
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What is property dualism? How does it differ from substance dualism? Give an example of a property that is, plausibly, non-physical.
- Property dualism- Mind and body are the same substance but mental events have different properties than physical events
- Substance dualism- Mind and body are two distinct substances
- red or pain
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State the principle of sufficient reason. Which argument for the existence of God relies on this principle?
anything that happens does so for a definite reason. no fact can be real or no statement true unless it has sufficient reason why it should not be otherwise. The cosmological argument.
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Explain Gertler’s conceivability argument against physicalism
- I can conceive of experiencing this pain while disembodied
- What is conceivable is possible
- It’s possible that this pain exists in an immaterial being (1,2)
- If this pain were a physical state or event, it couldn’t exist in an immaterial being
- that is, if it’s physical, it’s necessarily physical
- So, this pain is not identical to any physical state(3,4)
- So physicalism is false
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Explain the body theory of personal identity. Explain, briefly, one problem with this view.
- Persons are identical with their body
- I wake up and know who i am without seeing my body
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Explain the position in the philosophy of mind known as functionalism.
mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role
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Parfit argues for a position called fictionalism. What is this position? Explain how Parfit employs bundle theory in his view and what bundle theory leads us to conclude about personal identity.
- persons don’t endure over time; we attribute a fictional identity.
- 1.If ego theory is true, there should be hard and fast facts about whether x and y are the same
2.But there very often aren’t such facts
3.Therefore, the ego theory is false
4.The only alternative is the bundle theory
5.Therefore, the bundle theory is true
We are just a collection of mental events there is no self
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What ambiguities arise in determining what happens to the self in split brain and teletransportation cases? How does this ambiguity provide support for fictionalism?
having two streams of conciousness one person or two. Shows there is no way to determine self.
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Saint Anselm gives an ontological argument for the existence of God which employs the
definition of God as “that than which no greater being is conceivable.” How
does the argument go? Discuss. Then explain one of the objections that we
discussed in the lecture or drill and how it poses a problem for Anselm’s
argument.
1.God is , by definition, the greatest conceivable being.
2. God exists at least in the understanding ( we understand this definition)
3.A god that existed in reality would be greater than one that existed merely in the understanding.
4.Suppose that god doesn’t exist in reality, but only in the understanding
5.Then we could conceive of a being greater than god, namely a real god.
6. But then we could conceive of something greater than the greatest conceivable being.
7. Since that is a contradiction, the supposition(4) must be false
8. Therefore god exists in reality as well as the understanding I.e., god exists
The perfect island
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11. The cosmological argument for the existence of God from Samuel Clarke employs the Principle of Sufficient Reason. What are the premises to the cosmological argument? Premise two needs a further argument to support it. Explain the PSR and how it is provides us with support for premise two of the cosmological argument.
dependent and independent beings
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State the psychological continuity theory of personal identity. What does John Locke's particular version of this theory hold? Explain an objection to Locke’s view know as the argument from the transitivity of identity. Do you think this argument is successful?
Persons are just a series of psychological events. Locke's theory holds that we are just a series of mental events linked together by memory. a=b b=c then a=c old man young kid memories or amnesia
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Explain the identity theory in the philosophy of mind. What are the main benefits of
accepting this theory? Discuss one of the objections to the identity theory that we discussed in class. What is your assessment of the theory?
- Mental events are identical to physical events
- Pain = brain state 400
- objections- multiple realizability. same mental state are realized differently in different people and organizms
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