metaphysics and consciousness Flashcards
(31 cards)
philosophical area concerned with fundamental questions about reality
metaphysics
principle to eliminate unnecessary entities and explanatory principles
Ockham’s razor
belief in ‘stuff’ underlying observable characteristics
metaphysical substance
position claiming one kind of reality exists
metaphysical monism
position claiming exactly two kinds of reality exist
metaphysical dualism
believed in the distinction between mind and body, i can doubt my body but i cannot doubt my mind so my mind must be distinct from my body
descartes
belief that mind and brain do communicate
interactionism
believe ‘mind’ is brain activity
physicalists
challenge in explaining mind-body problem
problem with dualism
one reason supporting belief in physicalism
scientific progress
evidence used for physicalism
Phineas gage
create neural activity corresponding to distinguishable colors
electrical signals
view that mind is what the brain or any system like the brain does
functionalism
emphasizes importance of what consciousness does
functionalism theory
belief in different things playing same role in systems
multiple realizability
determines computer intelligence based on human conversation
turing test
ability to form representations of oneself
self awareness
concerned with understanding brain function
easy problem of consciousness
addresses why the brain experiences consciousness
hard problem of consciousness
subjective feeling in conscious experiences
qualia
study of being
ontology
moore’s law
empirical observation: technology doubles every two years
functionalism
posits that mental states are characterized by their relationship to inputs, outputs, and other mental states
singularity
a supposed time in the future when human intellect and machine intellect will be at the same level