Phil 101 Third Exam Study Guide PDF

Phil 101 Third Exam Study Guide Elisabeth-Descartes Correspondence 1. How does Descartes use doubt to arrive at his conclusions regarding the nature of the self? 2. Does Descartes believe that his existence essentially or necessarily involves a body? 3. What is Descartes’s dualism?...

Phil 101 Third Exam Study Guide Elisabeth-Descartes Correspondence 1. How does Descartes use doubt to arrive at his conclusions regarding the nature of the self? 2. Does Descartes believe that his existence essentially or necessarily involves a body? 3. What is Descartes’s dualism? 4. How does Descartes understand the relationship between the mind and the body? 5. Why does Elisabeth have a hard time understanding Descartes’s claim about how volition works? 6. How does Descartes attempt to answer Elisabeth’s question, and why does Elisabeth find this answer unsatisfying? 7. Descartes tries to address Elisabeth’s worries by appealing to the senses. Why does Elisabeth not find this answer helpful? Dennett - Where Am I? 1. Explain the ambiguity regarding the term “here” that arises after Dennett’s (fictional) operation. 2. What does Dennett think is the most plausible meaning of the sentence, “I am here”? 3. What is physicalism? 4. Would Dennett agree that the mind is immaterial? 5. Which theory of the nature of the mind does Dennett seem to adopt in the story? 6. Would Dennett agree with Turing’s claim that computers can behave intelligently? Turing: Computing Machinery and Intelligence 1. What is the “imitation game,” and what is Turing’s point in proposing it? 2. What is the relation between Turing’s proposal and functionalism? 3. In what sense is Turing’s idea based on behaviorism? 1  4. Why does Turing reject the objection based on theology? 5. Why does he reject the objection from consciousness? 6. Why does he reject the objection from creativity? 7. Why does he reject the objection from the informality of human behavior? Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs 1. What is the distinction between strong and weak AI? 2. In what sense is strong AI connected to functionalism? 3. What is the experiment with the Chinese room, and how is it an objection against the Turing Test? 4. What is the “system’s reply” to Searle’s position (and why does he reject it)? 5. What is the “robot reply” to Searle’s position (and why does he reject it)? 6. What is the distinction between syntax and semantics? 7. According to Searle, what can a machine never do that a human mind can do? 8. How might a functionalist reply to Searle’s point about syntax and semantics? Nagel: What is it like to be a bat? 1. What does it mean to give a “reduction” of something? 2. What are some examples of successful reductions in the history of sciences? 3. Which theories of the mind were attempts at reductions of the mind to something else? 4. Why does Nagel think that it can be useful to reflect on bat perception? What does this show us about the nature of consciousness in general? 5. Why does Nagel think that it will never be possible to successfully formulate a re- ductive theory of the mind? 6. How does Nagel understand the difference between a subjective characterization of something and an objective characterization? Jackson: Epiphenomenal Qualia 2 1. What are qualia? 2. According to Jackson, what is the relation between qualia, the physical properties of objects, and processes in the brain? 3. Explain Jackson’s Knowledge Argument. 4. Explain how Jackson’s argument (and his conclusion) differs from Nagel’s. 5. What is the hard problem of consciousness? 3