• Home Page
  • What Is It Like To Be A Bat By Thomas Nagel

What Is It Like To Be A Bat By Thomas Nagel

Improved Essays
Show More
2). What is the “mind-body problem,” described in Chapter 4, and how is this problem illustrated in Nagel’s essay on “consciousness”? For example, does Nagel find a solution to the problem? Why or why not? For example, how does he answer the question posed in the title of his essay? Finally, to what extent do you agree with him here?
In “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” Thomas Nagel claims humans cannot experience what it is like to be a bat. Even through imagination humans still cannot experience exactly what it is like to be a bat. I will discuss what the mind-body problem is and how Nagel illustrates it in his essay. I agree with Nagel and that we won’t ever know “What is it like to be” someone or something that has conscious experiences. …show more content…
96 para 1)? Descartes’ proposed a solution to the mind-body problem and that is interactionism. Interactionism is when there is some kind of relationship between the mind and body. For example; I should know when I am hungry or thirsty without needing a warning or being confused about it. Descartes’ says the pineal gland is where the confused or warning thoughts are housed (pg. 97-98 para 1). Descartes’ solution isn’t a solution because it raises the question of how do the mind and body interact in the pineal gland? Nagel illustrates the mind-body problem into his essay by saying if we can only see what it is like to be that organism through one view point how do we really know the real experiences of that organism (pg. 171 para 4)? The question Nagel asks “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” is unanswerable, I won’t ever know what it will be like to be a bat. I can’t physically experience what it is like to be a bat and I, even through my imagination, can’t experience what it is like to be a bat. I can picture myself as a bat, but I can’t image what it is like for me to be a bat. It’s hard to imagine what it is like to be a bat because the subjective character of my experiences is different from a bats subjective

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Gertler Dualism
    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gertler Dualism

    A) Gertler’s “In Defense of Mind- Body Dualism” In this essay, I will be defending Brie Gertler in her dualist stance on the mind – body problem. In the paper, Gertler argues that, “it is possible that pain occurs in a disembodied being.” She starts off talking about this argument by giving the example of stubbing ones toe. She then states that even someone who has had both of their feet amputated can still share this toe stubbing experience.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    In Chapter 6 Nagel's What Does It All Mean?
    • 2266 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In Chapter 6 Nagel's What Does It All Mean?

    William Del Fresno There are many questions that plague all of human existence. Questions which have no definite answer, and most likely never will in the span of all our lifetimes. Questions such as how do we know anything? Is there a thing as free will? And perhaps the largest of them all, what is the meaning of life?…

    • 2266 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Searle's 'What Is It Like To Be A Bat'
    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Searle's 'What Is It Like To Be A Bat'

    Chapter 3 demonstrates Searle’s critical abilities towards Dualism and Materialism, as well as the responses to these arguments by materialists. The opinions include: the prospect of zombification and famous analogies “What Is It like to Be a Bat’, “What Mary Didn’t know” and “the Chinese room” by Nagel, Jackson and Searle himself. In Chapters 4 and 5, Searle’s twofold description of consciousness include its configuration and causal link to our physical bodies as well as the outside world. These influence readers to conclude that if a spectrum of ideas ranging from an immortal spirit to artificial intelligence cannot offer an explanation to the mind body problem where do we go from there? Luckily, Searle provides a solution with “biological…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Descartes 6 Meditations Analysis
    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Descartes 6 Meditations Analysis

    The Six Meditations by Descartes offer valuable insight into the differences between the mind and the body. Through his discussion he demonstrates to us that the mind and body are two distinct things that could potentially exist without one another. The dialogue Monday Night puts many of the claims made by Descartes through many tests. They question many of the ideas that Descartes presents, and both explain and shoot down his ideas. The ideas demonstrated in the Meditations are confusing and absurd and don’t prove a distinction between the mind and body.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Weakness Of Cartesian Rene Descartes Dualism And Materialism
    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Weakness Of Cartesian Rene Descartes Dualism And Materialism

    Dualism vs Materialism The mind/body problem, the question of what is the relationship between the mind and the body, is commonly seen as a key issue in the philosophy of the mind (Sober, 2013, p. 204). The two categories of views discussed in Sober’s ‘Core Questions in Philosophy’ that attempt to resolve the mind/body problem are dualism and materialism. Dualism is the theory that the mind and the brain are two fundamentally different substances (Sober, 2013, p. 204). Conversely, materialism says that matter is the one and only fundamental substance in nature, and the notion that mental phenomena are a result of physical interactions follows (Sober, 2013, p. 204).…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    An Argument For Animalism Analysis
    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages

    An Argument For Animalism Analysis

    In the essay “An Argument for Animalism” by Eric T. Olson, he concludes that personal identity is psychological continuity. I will disagree with Olson’s ideas about personal identity in the brain-transplant and the thinking-animal argument. The main point of the paper is about animalism. Olson’s argument is that each one of us is numerically identical to a human animal. Olson says that a person could exist who is not numerically identical to any animal, but it’s not the case for you and I. Olson, then presents his ‘Thinking-Animal Argument’ and the alternatives to that.…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Difference Between Materialism And Dualism
    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Difference Between Materialism And Dualism

    They are unable to provide enough examples as to how the mind interacts with the body to create movement, or having to force oneself to stay awake even though the body is beginning to fall asleep. For Descartes he came up with the idea that the communication happens in the pineal gland of the brain, but his explanation was vague and he did not go into many details, allowing it to simply be an unsolved mystery. Descartes strong belief in dualism would cause him to have an objection to the materialistic views, he might argue that materialistic views could not occur because the mind can exist without the body, and the body without the mind. Gilbert Ryle was a philosopher who argued against Descartes with “the dogma of the ghost in the machine”, stating that the mind-body dualism was confusing the separate entities as being compatible. Descartes argument could be flawed because of the movement of the body, as to be able to cause movement the mind has to think about it and communicate to the body to produce that movement in the…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Compare And Contrast Searle And Descartes
    • 1028 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Searle And Descartes

    Although Descartes leaves many weak spots in his argument, Searle chooses probably the most difficult position to articulate. Searle attempts to explain why Descartes’ argument of mind-body distinction is not really an argument at all and that the two traditional default positions of the argument, materialism and dualism, are not accurate representations as to what the real problem is and should be discarded. Searle’s purpose is to destroy any remaining idea of Cartesian dualism and introduce a much better way of thinking about how humans are, a refutation of the default positions and a transition to a more comprehensive view on the…

    • 1028 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Impact Of Descartes On Psychology
    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Impact Of Descartes On Psychology

    He argued that the mind is responsible for thinking processes while the body is responsible for much of life’s functions, including movements. This suggested that some movements are not a result of the mind, but rather a reflex of the body. He ultimately established that the brain is important for behavior and thinking. This further supported Descartes claim that the mind and body are separate and fueled later research on the nervous system and its relationship to the mind and brain. It can also be argued that these contributions paved the path for modern behavioral psychology and more specifically the concept of stimulus-response.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Implications Of Dualism And Rene Descartes's Substance Dualism
    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Implications Of Dualism And Rene Descartes's Substance Dualism

    Introduction The argument whether or not the mind and the body are distinct substances raises a still on-going debate. In this essay, I proceed to give evidence as to why the Cartesian dualism theory is flawed. First, I am going to introduce a few of Descartes’ arguments and his position on the matter. Then, I will try to pick his most appealing argument and put it up against logical reasoning and other philosophers’ viewpoints. Finally, I am going to conclude how Rene Descartes proposes fallacious arguments which object his mind-body problem.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Descartes Rationalism And The Strengths Of Cartesian Dualism
    • 1950 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Descartes Rationalism And The Strengths Of Cartesian Dualism

    The strengths provided for Cartesian Dualism seem comforting at first glance of the theory as they are simplistic and easy to understand. Because of the consistent methodology that Descartes provides within his writing, the arguments break down one’s beliefs to a bare minimum. By providing a reason to agree with dualism, it offers consolation, as it accepts the desires of how people live and want to live; soulfully and mindfully, unattached to the action of only conforming to physical law. These arguments are appealing, but the weaknesses argued highlights significant logistical and rational problems. While credit should be given to Descartes as the science known during the time of publication of Meditations of First Philosophy was limited, the science known today including the functions of the brain and such matters provides further basis of argumentation.…

    • 1950 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Analysis Of Descartes Sixth Meditation
    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis Of Descartes Sixth Meditation

    The argument in Descartes’ Sixth Meditation for the real distinction between the mind and the body ultimately secures his dualist position. Despite his argument appearing to make some mildly questionable leaps and seemingly ignore one potentially devastating point altogether, his position is clear and strong. I will begin by reconstructing Descartes’ argument, cover the grievances listed above, and then hope to argue that, despite these objections, Descartes’ position remains a sound metaphysical view. In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes begins by declaring that, firstly, all things one can clearly and distinctly perceive can be created by God, and secondly, if one can clearly and distinctly perceive one thing without calling to mind another,…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Descartes Mind And Body
    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essay On Descartes Mind And Body

    In Meditation 6, we learn that Descartes comes to the conclusion that the mind and body are two separate entities. His belief is that through the idea that mind and body are separate entities, without the other, one can still exist. He comes to this conclusion by arguing that the mind, a non-extended thinking thing, is an entirely different being than the body, an extended thinking thing, is. He believes that the mind and soul are united to the body but still can be separated from each other and still exist.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Rene Descartes: Relationship Between The Mind And The Body
    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Rene Descartes: Relationship Between The Mind And The Body

    However, upon a closer and more rigorous examination, it is revealed that this argument is not as unsubstantiated as it seems to be. In order to understand how Descartes justifies his assertion, the concept of “clear and distinct idea” needs to be understood. Descartes’ “clear and distinct idea” involves the argument that an idea becomes clear when sharp intellectual perception is applied to it, similar to how a physical object becomes visually clear when sharp visual perception is applied to the physical object. Furthermore, the idea is distinct if it is not only clear but also excludes all other ideas that does not belong to it (Skirry). Thus, Descartes argued that the body is distinct from the mind because, after applying acute intellectual perception, Descartes perceived that the idea of the mind excludes the idea of body and the idea of the body excludes the idea of the mind therefore the mind is separate and different from the body (Skirry).…

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Bat Experience
    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Essay On Bat Experience

    Consider the possibility that the cognizant part of a bat is the same than the awareness of a person. Why must we stick to Nagels presupposition that being a bat is not the same as being a human. This does not imply that a bat 's insight is on a similar level of a human or that bats can think at all or that bats can even have an indistinguishable encounters from a man. I am trying to say that if a bat has a cognizant personality then why ought to the genuine cognizant perspective be not the same as that of an individual? Perhaps once this cognizant perspective is clarified then we will have the capacity to really realize what it resembles to be a…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings