Problem Set 09

Problem Set 09

Instructions

This problem set is due in class Thursday, 11/01. Again, I do not mind students working on the problem sets in groups--it is, in fact, encouraged--but your answers must be your own. If you have any question, puzzle, or require clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me (berkich@gmail.com; 3976 office, 944-2756 mobile--texts strongly preferred).

The Nature of Mind

Consider the two important solutions to the Mind-Body Problem we discussed in class:

  1. Dualism, which holds that because the properties we ascribe to mind and the properties we ascribe to bodies never seem to overlap, mind and body must be distinct substances, causally interacting such that mental events (in the mental substance of the mind) sometimes cause physical events (in the physical substance of the body), and vice-versa (also known as cartesian interactionism); and
  2. Machine Functionalism, which holds that the difference in properties we ascribe to mind and body are the differences in properties between bodies physically described and bodies functionally described, so that the mind is not different than the body, but is simply the result of the body's neurological processes functioning as they normally do--thus, roughly, the mind is what the body does.

There are other solutions, of course, but these are surely among the important solutions, in the sense that there are many reasons for and against each solution, and they have been hotly debated in philosophical circles.

In a single page essay, carefully construct an argument to show which of (1) or (2) is the most defensible solution to the Mind-Body problem. Please note that you have much to write in very, very little space. This is challenging, to say the least. Each and every word must count for the argument you give. Note especially that we are not asking here what you personally believe. Rather, in light of all we've said in class and read for class, which solution has the better arguments for it over its competitor and the less challenging arguments against it over its competitor. Your essay should be typed with at least 1.5 spacing and at least 10pt font on one side of one page. It would be wise strategy to start out writing four or five pages which you can then carefully edit down to the one page limit.