PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

READING

Read Chapter 2 of Kim (Can skip or skim over 35-46)

Read Descartes Selections (pgs 1-15) in the reader. Focus especially on pages 1-3, 5-7 and 12-14.

INTRODUCTION

In looking at the world two of the most fundamental divisions are:

(1) Living vs. Non-living

(2) Has a Mind vs. Does not have a mind

INTRODUCTIONThere are tough issues with drawing precise lines between things with minds and things that lack them.

Rock Amoeba Tree Bee Spider Frog Mouse Dog Chimpanzee Human

WHAT IS A MIND?Kinds of Mental States

1. Sensations: pains, tickles, the stench of a skunk. Characterized by phenomenal character or what it is like to be in them

2. Intentional states/ propositional attitudes: Beliefs, desires, intentions, hopes, fears. Contentful. They are about something.

3. Perceptual Experiences: Sort of in between 1 and 2. They have content, but also seem to be importantly individuated by their phenomenology

4. Feelings/Emotions: Anger, sadness, happiness

WHAT IS A MIND?A not very informative observation: things that can be in mental states have minds.

Rock Amoeba Tree Bee Spider Frog Mouse Dog Chimpanzee Human

THE MIND BODY PROBLEM

In one sense minds are the most familiar things in the world:

1. You are intimately acquainted with your own thoughts and desires

2. Indeed, it may seem as if the thing you are most certain about is what you are thinking, sensing, perceiving and so on.

3. You have no difficulty attributing mental states to others correctly in most cases.

THE MIND BODY PROBLEMIn another sense, the mind is one of the most perplexing and difficult to understand problems we are aware of.

“The two greatest mysteries in all of nature are the mind and the universe. With our vast technology, we have been able to photograph galaxies billions of light-years away, manipulate the genes that control life, and probe the inner sanctum of the atom, but the mind and the universe still elude and tantalize us. They are the most mysterious and fascinating frontiers known to science.”

-Michio Kaku