PHIL1003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: A Priori And A Posteriori, Type Physicalism, Mental Event
Exam Information
• Two essays have to be written – 2hrs
o First essay must be a response to one of three questions on the
topic of mind
o Second essay must be a response to one of three questions on the
topic of knowledge
• Each of the six questions will correspond to a topic that made up the focus
of one of the past six weeks of class
• Some of the questions will in fact specify that you focus on one argument
for and/or against a position
Exam Revision
• Mind
o Substance Dualism
▪ Mind and physical body are separate substances
• Define keywords, e.g. mind, substances
• Give defining attributes according to Descartes
• Note: he also accepted interactionism – the view that
mind and brain causally interact
o Dualism does not entail interactionism, but
Descartes subscribed to it
• An example argument for:
o I am certain I exist
o I am not certain my body exists
o Therefore, I am not my body
• Another for:
o My mind is not divisible
o All material/physical things are divisible
o Therefore, my mind is not a
material/physical thing
• Problems for dualism
o What makes two minds distinct if they are
not spatially extended
o How can a non-physical thing causally affect a
physical thing
o Physicalism (and Identity Theory)
▪ There is one type of thing in the world – physical things
▪ Papineau’s argument for
• All conscious mental events can have physical effects
that are not overdetermined
• All physical effects are fully caused by purely
physical prior events
• Therefore, the conscious mental events are physical
events
▪ Identity theory
• Pick a mental event, any mental event, call it M
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