PHIL 101 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
The Mind-Body Problem - Answers - A 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 - Answers - Substance is a bearer of properties, either physical or
mental. Mind and body can interact.
- Philosopher: Descartes
Merricks on the Resurrection - Answers - Merricks 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 - Answers - Descartes believe that mind and body are
two separate things called dualism. He believes that one can exist without the other.
Development of Physicalism - Answers - Rejects both mental/immaterial substances &
mental properties.
David Lewis on Mary's Room - Answers - Lewis 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 - Answers - As long as you have continuous consciousness,
then you are the same person
Hume's Personal Identity - Answers - In 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 - Answers - The study of consciousness as experience from the first-
person point of view.
Jackson's Knowledge Argument for Qualia - Answers - There 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" - Answers - he 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 - Answers - The concept you develop about yourself that evolves over
the course of your life.
The Persistence Question - Answers - What kinds of changes can you undergo and still
be the same person?
The Personhood Question - Answers - What are the necessary & sufficient conditions
for being a person?
Consciousness and Qualia - Answers - Qualia: 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 - Answers - we 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)
The Simple View - Answers - Persons are immaterial souls; they have bodies only
contingently and not necessarily.
- Plato, Descartes
The psychological Continuity Theory - Answers - A person at one time is the very same
person as himself at a later time if and only if they remember experiences of themselves
at an earlier time
The physiological continuity theory - Answers - A person at one time is the very same
person as himself at a later time if and only if that individual is psychologically
continuous with the person at the earlier time
Body Swap and Theseus's ship - Answers - Example to psych & phys continuity
theories
- Body Swap: could you switch bodies and still be the same person?
- Theseus' ship: if a ship loses its parts on a journey, is it still the same ship?
The Epicurean View of Death - Answers - Death is not bad.
1) You can only be harmed by the things you experience.
The Mind-Body Problem - Answers - A 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 - Answers - Substance is a bearer of properties, either physical or
mental. Mind and body can interact.
- Philosopher: Descartes
Merricks on the Resurrection - Answers - Merricks 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 - Answers - Descartes believe that mind and body are
two separate things called dualism. He believes that one can exist without the other.
Development of Physicalism - Answers - Rejects both mental/immaterial substances &
mental properties.
David Lewis on Mary's Room - Answers - Lewis 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 - Answers - As long as you have continuous consciousness,
then you are the same person
Hume's Personal Identity - Answers - In 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 - Answers - The study of consciousness as experience from the first-
person point of view.
Jackson's Knowledge Argument for Qualia - Answers - There 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" - Answers - he 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 - Answers - The concept you develop about yourself that evolves over
the course of your life.
The Persistence Question - Answers - What kinds of changes can you undergo and still
be the same person?
The Personhood Question - Answers - What are the necessary & sufficient conditions
for being a person?
Consciousness and Qualia - Answers - Qualia: 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 - Answers - we 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)
The Simple View - Answers - Persons are immaterial souls; they have bodies only
contingently and not necessarily.
- Plato, Descartes
The psychological Continuity Theory - Answers - A person at one time is the very same
person as himself at a later time if and only if they remember experiences of themselves
at an earlier time
The physiological continuity theory - Answers - A person at one time is the very same
person as himself at a later time if and only if that individual is psychologically
continuous with the person at the earlier time
Body Swap and Theseus's ship - Answers - Example to psych & phys continuity
theories
- Body Swap: could you switch bodies and still be the same person?
- Theseus' ship: if a ship loses its parts on a journey, is it still the same ship?
The Epicurean View of Death - Answers - Death is not bad.
1) You can only be harmed by the things you experience.
