How do you imagine that Howard Gardner would respond to a concerned parent seeking guidance who asks, "How can I get my Kristen more motivated to achieve in school? She is starting to fall behind in both reading and math! All she wants to do is get outside and play softball! " How would Dr. Gardner foster intrapersonal intellignece in this student? Interpersonal intelligence?…
The philosopher Albert Camus paints and bleak picture of the human existence, saying that our lives have no meaning and are, as a consequence absurd, because all our efforts are futile and hopeless. However, if we can accept that choice is intrinsic to a thinking being, then we can admit to ourselves that everything we do, no matter how insignificant, possesses some meaning and it gives our existence purpose. There are two certainties in life deduced by the thinking of Rene Descartes; one is that we are a thinking mind and the other is that we exist. I want to extend this thinking further to include the obligation to choose, find what is sufficient for purpose and meaning and conclude that we have enough in our current conditions.…
The following is an explanation and exposure of two flaws within Al Ghazali’s argument for mind and body independence. Ghazali’s argument is that one can be aware of oneself, yet not be aware of their physical body because the mind/spirit is independent of one’s physical being. By closing one’s eyes and shutting out the physical existence from the mind, one is still able to think and be aware of onself’s existence. Since one’s mind/spirit is able to have awareness without knowing a physical existence, the mind and body must be independent. He concludes that the self is not a body.…
Life—more specifically, human life—can be quite complex to describe. One will experience amazing sensations in their lifetime, such as the feeling of happiness, achievement, and tranquility. On the other hand, in conjunction with the amazing sensations, one will inevitably experience the tumultuous difficulties of living. In the end, each human will face the ultimate difficulty of human life: death. The distinctive experiences that each human being faces creates a sense of spice and spontaneity in a person’s lifetime.…
Animal Rights The article, “Minds That May Matter,” was written by Advik Shreekumar. Shreekumar mention the work of the OpenWorm team and animal rights. The OpenWorm Team is an open group science project that focuses on the creation of the world’s first digital organism. Around the globe, scientists from this team are working in labs to figure out how to automate this process.…
I chose to read An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison. Before taking this class, I only knew a few things about bipolar disorder. Most of what I had learned about bipolar had come from Google searches in wondering if I too suffered from the disorder because of it being prevalent within my family on my absent father’s side. What I learned from Google was that bipolar is a disorder that can cause people to have mood swings, there were two different types of bipolar, and that the drug lithium could be used to treat this disorder. Some of the things that I had learned from the textbook were the differences between bipolar I and II, the diagnostic criteria involved in bipolar disorder, and why bipolar occurs.…
To answer this question I will fist give an explanation of what functionalism is and its relation to dualism, materialism and mind-brain identity theory. From here I will outline the two key objections it faces namely the extra-cranial objection or china brain thought experiment and the qualia objection. I will state and explain why the qualia objection is the most serious of the two and why functionalism at present can not fully overcome it but in doing so I will address the replies functionalism gives as defence against this. Functionalism Functionalism is a form materialism, which in turn is the interpretation of processes of the mind as both mental states and brain states depending on how they present themselves, however there is only…
Following the readings and presentations on the mind/body problem, and having read the synopsis and viewed the episode, I have come to believe that Piccard and Maddox view the personhood (or lack thereof) of Data entirely from different perspectives - at least for much of the episode. Piccard, from the very start of the suggestion of disassembling Data to further knowledge and create additional beings like him, is extremely convicted that the very proposal of such an act is not just wrong, but inhumane. Piccard approaches this from the mind/body problem view of dualism. Piccard sees Data both physically and mentally, a view that suggests two properties coinciding within Data - physical properties which "are properties of the body, while mental properties are properties of the mind." (Hasker, 1983, p. 65) For Piccard, referring to Data as a machine or a thing…
Because man is a machine, naturalists also deny the presence or existence that man has a soul. Without the presence of the soul man is denied free will. Believing a person’s life is based off genetics and the process of cause and effect as…
Nature of Mind Summary David Armstrong wholeheartedly believes in “Scientism” and agrees strongly with Materialist views. He starts off by making the point that he absolutely believes that humans have minds. Some people believe that the mind is the physical brain while others have spiritual beliefs about the mind. There are other views and theories out there, but those are the most popular, controversial ones. Although there’s many theories, most people can come to an agreement that all humans have certain functions that clearly link up to the mind/brain.…
Searle and Descartes being separated by nearly four centuries provides a rough landscape for a philosophical discussion to be conducted upon. Both Searle and Descartes have inherent biases based upon their location on the timeline, Searle with modern science and Descartes with religion and the church. Being that the two are opposed, I think that Searle is able to articulate effectively his positions and respond to Descartes’ claims properly. If positioned at the same location along the timeline and granted the knowledge that Searle possess, I think that Descartes, assuming he had an open mind, would agree with Searle’s propositions and subsequent conclusion.…
Abstract Theory of mind is a crucial part of a child’s development, which is affected and depends on various aspects surrounding the said child. In as much as one can have their own opinions, children reach a certain age where they learn that they are not always right, and people can have a different viewpoint than them. The period of granting them each and every wish ends, and now they learn that things are not always to be done their way.…
Substance Dualism is a theory of mind that asserts the thesis that there exists the mind (nonphysical) and the body (physical) and that they are two distinct substances. Moreover, it identifies a being immediately with their mind and only secondarily with their body. Logical Behaviorism is branch of philosophical behaviorism. Behaviorism, essentially, is the thesis that mental states, if they exist, are identical to behavioral states. Logical Behaviorism posits that descriptions of mental states are reducible to descriptions of behavioral states.…
In J.L. Austin’s Other Minds, Austin states that when one questions the speaker to verify the truthfulness of their statements, one asks the speaker to expand on their credentials and facts. Some also question the reality perceived by the speaker and the certitude of the speaker in his perceptions. Yet Austin insists that certain metaphysical questions that interrogates into the reality — whether the speaker is in the proper state of mind, whether the object is in its natural state, whether the speaker’s perceptions have been distorted by external influences — lose their meanings when raised in ambiguous contexts, and language can be used as an instrument to clarify the confusion between different notions and resolve the doubt on the veracity…
Central to the field of cognitive science lies the mind/body problem, which questions “the relationship between mental properties and physical properties,” (Robinson). The dualist argues that the mind and body are two separate entities and that the mind only exists within the body, specifically the brain. Thus, aligned with this belief, many dualists also hold rationalist views, or that one may gain knowledge via a priori experience.…