PHIL 101 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2024/2025
The Mind-Body Problem - ANSWERSA problem that deals with how our mental state relates to our
physical state, given that our body is a physical entity, while our mind is non-physical.
Philosopher: Descartes
Substance Dualism - ANSWERSSubstance is a bearer of properties, either physical or mental. Mind and
body can interact.
- Philosopher: Descartes
Merricks on the Resurrection - ANSWERSMerricks believe that we stop existing for a while, until the 2nd
coming of Jesus. When we die, we will be in a state of rest and waiting.
Gilbert Ryle's Critique of Descartes - ANSWERS- Looking for the invisible in physicalism aka soul in the
body
- Behaviorism: our behaviors will show our minds
- Verification: we can't believe anything without real and substantial evidence.
Descartes on Mind-Body Problem - ANSWERSDescartes believe that mind and body are two separate
things called dualism. He believes that one can exist without the other.
Development of Physicalism - ANSWERSRejects both mental/immaterial substances & mental properties.
Consciousness and Qualia - ANSWERSQualia: things that prove physicalism false. Something you cannot
grasp without experiencing it, like colors, a headache, the taste of grape juice.
-Argues that even if you know about these things, you can't know them fully until after you experience
them.
Consciousness: The state of being aware of an external object or something within yourself. Descartes
and Locke have spoken on this.
, Non-reductive Physicalism - ANSWERSwe are just a physical thing, and yet we have experiences that
can't be reduced to just physical substances. No immaterial properties in your body. (Jackson on Mary's
Room)
David Lewis on Mary's Room - ANSWERSLewis is a physicalist.
Seeing color is a skill, not a learned experience.
- critique: but Mary's experience of seeing red is new. Therefore, physicalism fails because she didn't
understand color until she experienced seeing color for the first time, and she already learned all the
facts about color
Locke's Memory Theory - ANSWERSAs long as you have continuous consciousness, then you are the
same person
Hume's Personal Identity - ANSWERSIn short, because the "self" must be a constant, persisting, stable
thing, and yet all knowledge is derived from impressions, which are transient, non-persisting, variable
things, it follows that we do not really have knowledge of a "self"
Phenomenology - ANSWERSThe study of consciousness as experience from the first-person point of
view.
Jackson's Knowledge Argument for Qualia - ANSWERSThere are some knowledge that cannot be attained
just by learning. You have to experience it to understand it, just like experiencing color / a headache /
tasting wine. Proves that physicalism fails.
Nagel's "what's it like to be a bat" - ANSWERShe holds that physicalism cannot be understood without
characterizing objective and subjective experience.
- Against physicalism because we can know all the facts about what makes a bat, a bat. But we still don't
really know because we don't have any experience being a bat.
Personal Identity - ANSWERSThe concept you develop about yourself that evolves over the course of
your life.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2024/2025
The Mind-Body Problem - ANSWERSA problem that deals with how our mental state relates to our
physical state, given that our body is a physical entity, while our mind is non-physical.
Philosopher: Descartes
Substance Dualism - ANSWERSSubstance is a bearer of properties, either physical or mental. Mind and
body can interact.
- Philosopher: Descartes
Merricks on the Resurrection - ANSWERSMerricks believe that we stop existing for a while, until the 2nd
coming of Jesus. When we die, we will be in a state of rest and waiting.
Gilbert Ryle's Critique of Descartes - ANSWERS- Looking for the invisible in physicalism aka soul in the
body
- Behaviorism: our behaviors will show our minds
- Verification: we can't believe anything without real and substantial evidence.
Descartes on Mind-Body Problem - ANSWERSDescartes believe that mind and body are two separate
things called dualism. He believes that one can exist without the other.
Development of Physicalism - ANSWERSRejects both mental/immaterial substances & mental properties.
Consciousness and Qualia - ANSWERSQualia: things that prove physicalism false. Something you cannot
grasp without experiencing it, like colors, a headache, the taste of grape juice.
-Argues that even if you know about these things, you can't know them fully until after you experience
them.
Consciousness: The state of being aware of an external object or something within yourself. Descartes
and Locke have spoken on this.
, Non-reductive Physicalism - ANSWERSwe are just a physical thing, and yet we have experiences that
can't be reduced to just physical substances. No immaterial properties in your body. (Jackson on Mary's
Room)
David Lewis on Mary's Room - ANSWERSLewis is a physicalist.
Seeing color is a skill, not a learned experience.
- critique: but Mary's experience of seeing red is new. Therefore, physicalism fails because she didn't
understand color until she experienced seeing color for the first time, and she already learned all the
facts about color
Locke's Memory Theory - ANSWERSAs long as you have continuous consciousness, then you are the
same person
Hume's Personal Identity - ANSWERSIn short, because the "self" must be a constant, persisting, stable
thing, and yet all knowledge is derived from impressions, which are transient, non-persisting, variable
things, it follows that we do not really have knowledge of a "self"
Phenomenology - ANSWERSThe study of consciousness as experience from the first-person point of
view.
Jackson's Knowledge Argument for Qualia - ANSWERSThere are some knowledge that cannot be attained
just by learning. You have to experience it to understand it, just like experiencing color / a headache /
tasting wine. Proves that physicalism fails.
Nagel's "what's it like to be a bat" - ANSWERShe holds that physicalism cannot be understood without
characterizing objective and subjective experience.
- Against physicalism because we can know all the facts about what makes a bat, a bat. But we still don't
really know because we don't have any experience being a bat.
Personal Identity - ANSWERSThe concept you develop about yourself that evolves over the course of
your life.
