Summary Consciousness An Introduction Book cover image

Summary Consciousness An Introduction

- Susan Blackmore, et al
ISBN-10 1317625862 ISBN-13 9781317625865
107 Flashcards & Notes
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A snapshot of the summary - Consciousness An Introduction Author: Susan Blackmore Emily T Troscianko ISBN: 9781317625865

  • 1 What's the problem?

  • 1.1 What's the world made of?

  • To what is the problem of consciousness related?
    The mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the physical and mental? (impossible dualism)
  • How can your sensations be related to real existing objects in space?
    Everyone has a different sticking point, which is fundamental to all the questions about what makes you you
  • 1.2 Consciousness in philosophy

  • Into what can the problem of consciousness be divided?
    • Monist theories: there is only one kind of stuff in the world

    • Dualist theories: which propose two kinds of stuff
  • Which version of dualism is the best known and from who is it?
    Cartesian dualism from René Descartes: I think, therefore I am
  • According to Descartes, on which kinds of stuff does the world consists?
    • Extended stuff: of which physical bodies are made

    • Unextended stuff: thinking stuff of which minds are made
  • What is on the contrary of substance dualism? Explain.
    Property dualism or dual-aspect theory

    Property dualism says the world is composed only of one kind: the physical. But it can be described using mental or physical terms.
  • What is the problem of substance dualism?
    How the mind interacts with the body when the two are made of different substances. The interaction has the be in both directions. 
  • What’s Gilbert Ryle’s vision about dualism?
    1949 - Substance dualism does not work.

    He thought that many philosophical problems are caused by misuses of language. We don’t know how to talk about mind, so we talk about cause and effect in a negative way. But then we are putting the mind into the wrong category: material instead of non-material. He tried to find a middle way between dualism and behaviourism. 
  • What does Alva Noë says about consciousness?
    Consciousness is not something that happens in us. It is something we do. How we think about the mind, self or soul, influences each other. The question is: what is the relationship between mind and matter?
  • What is the cartesian theatre?
    Imagining that being conscious is like being the audience of the show on the stage of a special mental theatre. 
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