Metaphysics notes - class Tuesday 1/15/02:

RECAP: ORIGINS/DEFINITIONS OF PHILOSOPHY
"An attempt to come to a systematic understanding of the world through the use of reason and/or logic." (Borrowdale)

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
Philosophy uses reason and logic as opposed to tradition, faith, dogma, spiritual experiences, etc.
(philosophy of religion does exist)

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
*Metaphysics (ontology) - "Theory of Reality," literally "after nature" (Aristotle), the nature of reality.
(Ontology: "Theory of Being")
*Epistemology - "Theory of Knowledge," What do we know? What can we know? How do we know it?
*Ethics - What is right and wrong? Good and evil? Explores "Theories about morality." Can be theoretical or applied. ("Tyranny of the majority")
*Aesthetics - "Theory of Art"
*Logic - Explores reason, validity, deceit, fallacies, how to reason well, truths/falsities.
*Political and Social Philosophy - see "ethics."

DESCARTES' MIND-BODY PROBLEM: HOW THE MIND AND BODY INTERACT
*Monism - Idealism, Materialism: everything is composed of only one thing.
**Idealism - (Berkeley, Hegel, Hume) "Can we prove that there is a material world?" "Everything is mental or spiritual, the material world is merely an illusion, everything in the world is either an idea or a mind, humans are simply manifestations of a spiritual being" (much like Hindu doctrine)
**Materialism - (Taylor, Skinner, Russell) "Everything is physical, there is no such thing as an immortal soul, the mind is merely the way people behave, our mind dies with our body."
*Dualism - (Descartes, Plato) "There are both mental and physical substances, there exists both a body and a soul-each has its own reality-the mind is just as real as the body." Explores the question of life after death (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
*Pluralism - all the above categories are arbitrary.

(Platonic: of the philosophy of Plato)
(Cartesian: of the philosophy of Descartes)

DUALIST ANSWER TO THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
(CARTESIAN INTERACTIONISM)
*The mind and body interact in the pineal gland (brain).
*The brain is simply an interface between the mind or soul and the body.
Descartes: (you know you exist as a mind just by thinking.) "I THINK, THEREFORE, I AM." "I EXIST, GOD EXISTS, GOD IS GOOD, THEREFORE, IF IT SEEMS A MATERIAL WORLD EXISTS, IT DOES."
(Thinking: doubting, considering, affirming, etc.)
*It's easy to prove existence of a soul, but hard to prove the existence of a physical body.
*Mind and body are totally separate, by separation of properties alone: Mind/soul/self/person/spirit: thoughts, ideas, beliefs, sense impressions, questions, memories.
Body/matter: occupies space, size, shape, mass, location, motion, rest.

OBJECTIONS TO CARTESIAN INTERACTIONISM
*Location of mind-body interaction in brain, where the mind is.
*"Ghost in the machine" objection.
*How can a spirit effect matter?