Unit #2 Philosophy Test Flashcards
(34 cards)
What is Dualism?
The belief that the mind and body are two distinct substances that interact but are fundamentally different (e.g., mind = nonphysical & body = physical).
What is Plato’s Tripartite theory of the Soul?
Plato believed that the soul had 3 parts: reason (logic), spirit (emotion/will), and appetite (desires), which must be balanced for a just life.
What is Psychological Egoism?
The theory that all human actions are motivated by self-interest, even when they appear altruistic.
What is the Traditional Rationalist View?
The idea that reason, not sensory experience, is the primary source of knowledge and identity.
What is the Existentialist View?
Emphasizes individual freedom, choice, and responsibility, arguing that people define their essence through actions.
What is the Behaviourist View?
Claims that the mind and mental states can be fully understood through observable behaviour, without needing to reference internal thoughts.
What is the Functionalist View?
Views mental states in terms of their functions or roles in a system, not by their physical makeup (e.g., pain is what causes avoidance behavior).
What is the difference between a Human and a Person?
A human is a biological classification, while a person is a being with traits like self-awareness, rationality, and moral responsibility.
What are the Characteristics of a Person?
Typically include self-awareness, rationality, the ability to feel emotions, moral reasoning, and having interests or goals.
What is the Dolphin Vs. Person debate?
A question whether intelligent animals like dolphins could be considered persons in a philosophical sense based on traits like self-awareness, rationality, emotions, and communication.
What is the Bundle of Perceptions?
David Hume’s idea that the self is just a collection or ‘bundle’ of changing thoughts, feelings, and experiences, not a fixed entity.
What is Plato’s Theory of Forms?
Plato believed that beyond the physical world lies a realm of perfect, unchanging forms or ideas which physical things only imitate.
What is Continuity in philosophy?
The concept that identity or existence persists over time without interruption.
What is Continuous Consciousness?
Suggests a person remains the same over time if there’s a connected stream of conscious experience.
What does Identity refer to?
What makes a person a person, the same over time, despite changes in appearance or personality.
What is the Lumpl and Goliath thought experiment?
Involves a lump of clay named Lumpl and a statue named Goliath made from it, explaining how two objects can share the same matter but have different identities.
What are Essential Properties?
Traits a thing must have to be what it is (e.g., a triangle must have 3 sides).
What are Accidental Properties?
Traits a thing can have or lose without changing what it is (e.g., a triangle’s colour).
What is Fungibility?
The quality of being interchangeable; if something is fungible, one instance can be replaced with another of the same kind without loss of value.
What is the Body Theory?
Argues that personal identity is tied to the physical body that persists through time, but fails in cases like body swaps or brain transplants.
What is the Memory Theory?
Suggests that a person remains the same over time through the continuity of memory.
What is the Ship of Theseus thought experiment?
Asks whether an object remains the same if all its parts are replaced one by one, questioning the nature of identity over time.
What is Parfit’s Theory of Survival?
Argues that survival is about psychological continuity, not strict identity.
What does ‘I think, therefore I am’ mean?
A foundational statement by René Descartes meaning that the act of thinking proves the existence of the self.
