Adam Davis
PHL 203- Metaphysics
Notes for Thursday, Jan. 17th, 2002
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002

Mind-Body Problem
3 Views
Idealism- Spirit
Materialism- Physical
Dualism

Descartes seperated properties
Mind/ Body intermingle
"Pilot + Ship" analogy= bad example

"I" refers to Mind and Soul
"My body needs to lose weight..."
A thinking thing joined to a body
Appendages; maiming doesn't affect inner person
So closely joined- human confusion
Intimate connection

Descartes- Animals
Do animals have a mind and soul?
"Animals are automata"
Animals= machines (?!?)
Clock represented recent technology
Wind-up toy mechanical men

Desmond Morris- "Naked Ape"
Human animals vs. other animals
Cat behavior traits; how humanlike?
Memories from prior traumas, owners
Cats feel guilt, fear, love, happiness

Alex
Green Amazon parrot
Irene Pepperberg- University of Arizona
Alex can read 300+ words
Can describe varied materials (wood, etc.)

How do we tell if animals feel pain?
Reactions
Stepping on a cat's paw (meow)

Descartes' views= paultry: too cold to emotion
Animal's conscience
Survival instincts
Dollar Bill example (right vs. necessity)
Natural selection (?)

Human Perception vs. animal perception
Altruism; exceptions to the rule (exceptions to altruism)

Given that humans and non-human animals behave similarly, it seems that either we must say animals have souls or humans don't.

Complexity of nervious system correlates with complexity of conciousness. Why?
Esp. if conciousness resides in an immaterial soul
Ex. brain-to-spinal-cord ratio

Cartesian Interactionism
Mind and body casually effect one another
Mind- body= see pizza, get hungry; squeamishness; placebo effect, etc.
Body- mind= physical pain, etc.

Descartes- analogy with gravity
We don't know how it works, but this doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Dualist answers:
1) Cartesian Interactionism
2)Parallelism (Occasionalism)- Leibriz
The mental and physical are two parallel processes, that run side by side
Appear to interact, but never actually do
3) Epihenomenalism: the physical effects the mental, but not vise-versa.
Gas guage example

The End