Week 5 Discussion: Philosophy of Mind.
Read:
Thomas Nagel: What is it like to be a Bat?
Frank Jackson: Epiphenomenal Qualia
Churchland: Reduction, Qualia, and the Direct Introspection of Brain States
Jackson and Nagel.pdf download
Churchland.pdf download
Answer any 7 of the 11 questions. Answer an additional question for extra credit. Please, thoughtfully and thoroughly answer the questions. Make sure your answers are detailed and well-supported. If a question has more than 1 part, make sure you answer every part. Please explain using your own words and own examples. Discuss answers with your group, esp. concerning #11.
What are qualia? Explain using an example.
Explain what Jackson’s examples of Fred and Mary and Nagel’s example of the bat are meant to demonstrate.
Explain why Jackson and Nagel think that mental states cannot be reduced to physical states. (Use your own example to illustrate.)
What is folk psychology? Use an example to illustrate.
What is intertheorectic reduction? (Use an example to illustrate.)
What does Churchland hope to reduce with intertheorectic reduction? What does he want to replace it with? Explain why he thinks this is possible.
Explain either the example of the wine taster or the symphony conductor. Explain what these examples are meant to demonstrate.
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