Kinds of Philosophers

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Kinds of Philosophers
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The Mind-body Problem

• What is it to be a human being, a thing that
  thinks?
• We are conscious beings, with minds
• We think
• We believe, know, conjecture, estimate, guess,
  hypothesize, doubt
• We imagine, want, crave, feel emotion, pleasure,
  pain
• We are also physical beings, with bodies
• How can we be both?

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Dualism

• We have a dual nature
• We are both mental and physical beings
• Minds and bodies are distinct and independent
• The problem is how they interact

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Monism

• Dualists hold that we have a dual nature
• There are two fundamental kinds of thing (e.g.,
  minds and bodies)
• Monists hold that we have a unified nature
• There is just one fundamental kind of thing
• But which one?
• Bodies (naturalism)
• Minds (classical idealism)
• Neither (neutral monism)

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Naturalism

• We are fundamentally physical beings
• We are parts of nature
• We can be understood naturalistically
• The problem is how to fit the mental into our
  understanding of the natural world

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Classical Idealism

• We are fundamentally mental beings
• Everything depends on mind
• The problem is understanding how we construct
  physical objects mentally

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Neutral Monism

• There is just one fundamental kind of thing
• But its not specifically mental or physical it
  can constitute both
• Problems What is it? How does it constitute
  them?
• Almost no one has held this position

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Skepticism

• All we have access to is mental our own
  sensations, feelings, thoughts, desires. . . .
• Is there anything else? Are they fundamental?
  We have no way of knowing

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Mind/body and other issues

• Stances on the mind/body problem tend to
  determine outlooks on other philosophical issues

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Two Philosophical Issues

• 1. Is the world independent of us, or do we in
  some sense construct it?
• 2. Can we know anything about the world
  independently of experience?

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Realism and Idealism

• 1. Is the world independent of us, or do we in
  some sense construct it?
• Realism Some things are independent of mind
• Idealism Everything depends on mind things are
  constructions or projections of the mind

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Rationalism and Empiricism

• 2. Can we know anything about the world
  independently of experience?
• Rationalism Yes Some knowledge of the world is
  independent of our own experience
• Empiricism No All knowledge of the world comes
  from experience