Vaughn Exam Questions Mind And Body Chapter 4

Test Bank

Philosophy Here and Now, Fourth Edition

Lewis Vaughn

Chapter 4: Mind and Body

Please Note: All questions that appear with an asterisk are also featured on the Student Oxford Learning Link site.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The view that we consist of two distinct substances (body and mind) and that these two interact is known as

A) functionalism.

B) identity theory.

C) substance dualism.

D) materialism.

1. *Descartes believed that interaction between body and mind took place in

A) ectoplasm.

B) the brainstem.

C) the pineal gland.

D) the nervous system.

1. *The idea that mental states are dispositions to behave in particular ways in certain circumstances is known as

A) logical nominalism.

B) logical behaviorism.

C) methodological behaviorism.

D) eliminative materialism.

1. *Logical behaviorism is at odds with our commonsense intuition that mental states

A) do not exist.

B) never cause behavior.

C) exist.

D) cause behavior.

1. The theory that says mental states are nothing but brain states is known as

A) brain theory.

B) epiphenomenalism.

C) logical behaviorism.

D) identity theory.

1. Functionalism asserts that

A) the mind is the function that the brain performs.

B) the mind’s function is to think.

C) the mind does not exist.

D) the mind functions only when healthy.

1. According to Epiphenomenalism,

A) the mind is not real.

B) the mind is an immaterial substance.

C) mental properties do not cause anything.

D) mental properties can be multiply realized.

1. Property dualism is the view that

A) the mind has no mental properties.

B) mental properties are identical to physical properties.

C) mental properties are reducible to physical properties.

D) mental properties arise from, but are neither identical nor reducible to, physical properties.

1. *Descartes says that the chief characteristic of physical things is that

A) they cannot be measured.

B) science can study them.

C) they do not have extension.

D) they have extension.

1. *When Descartes reasons that it is conceivable that he could exist without his body and that whatever is conceivable is logically possible, he is offering a _______ argument.

A) possibility

B) conceivability

C) divisibility

D) probability

1. *The contention that bodies and minds must be different things because bodies can be divided into parts but minds cannot is known as a _______ argument.

A) divisibility

B) unitary

C) conceivability

D) divisive

1. *The existence of a form of mental illness known as multiple personality disorder seems to suggest that

A) the existence of the mind is a delusion.

B) the mind is indivisible.

C) the mind is divisible.

D) mental illness is incurable.

1. The biblical account of the soul is at odds with

A) a unitary concept of the soul.

B) the identity theory.

C) soul–body dualism.

D) the idea of a monistic soul.

1. *Regarding mind and body, most contemporary philosophers are

A) logical behaviorists.

B) substance dualists.

C) eliminative materialists.

D) materialists.

1. *Substance dualism is said to violate the scientific principle of

A) dualistic action.

B) behaviorism.

C) action at a distance.

D) the causal closure of the physical.

1. *According to Descartes, the mind, or soul, is

A) a thinking and extended thing.

B) an unthinking and unextended thing.

C) identical to the body.

D) a thinking and unextended thing.

1. *Descartes says that the mind is distinct from the body and

A) cannot exist without it.

B) is unknowable.

C) is dependent on material substance.

D) can exist without the body.

1. *Descartes asserts that he knows that he is a substance the whole essence of which is to

A) breathe.

B) be extended in space.

C) think.

D) require a body.

1. *Cartesian dualism posits

A) a soul and a spirit.

B) a body and a mind.

C) two minds.

D) a body and a brain.

1. If mental states are multiply realizable, that presents a problem for

A) the identity theory of mind.

B) the functionalist theory of mind.

C) the property dualist theory of mind.

D) the substance dualist theory of mind.

1. *According to Searle, the appropriately programmed computer

A) has cognitive states.

B) can achieve strong AI.

C) explains human cognition.

D) cannot have cognitive states.

1. *Searle argues that the Chinese room thought experiment shows that

A) the claims of strong AI are not plausible.

B) the claims of strong AI are plausible.

C) computers can understand stories.

D) computers can understand Chinese.

1. Searle believes that understanding Chinese (or any other language) is

A) merely a matter of symbol manipulation.

B) a matter of inputs and outputs.

C) not merely a matter of symbol manipulation.

D) computation.

1. *Searle asserts that no computer program by itself, however sophisticated, is sufficient for

A) computation.

B) symbol manipulation.

C) syntax.

D) intentionality.

1. According to Nagel, an organism has conscious mental states if and only if

A) it has human-like physical attributes.

B) there is something that it is like to be that organism.

C) the mental states are reducible to functional states.

D) the mental states play the right causal role.

1. Nagel believes that the essence of the belief that bats have experience is that

A) they have brains.

B) bat experiences are like human experiences.

C) we know what it is like to be a bat.

D) there is something that it is like to be a bat.

1. According to Fodor, in the functionalist view the psychology of a system depends not on the stuff it is made of but on

A) what psychologists say about the stuff.

B) how the stuff relates to modern physics.

C) what kind of stuff it is.

D) how the stuff is put together.

1. According to Smart, the report of an “after-image” or “ache” is a report of

A) sensations.

B) a brain process.

C) conscious experience.

D) a mental process.

1. *Chalmers's zombie twin is identical to him

A) psychically.

B) functionally and psychologically.

C) functionally, but not psychologically.

D) psychologically only.

1. *Chalmers argues that his zombie is

A) not conceivable.

B) impossible.

C) actual.

D) conceivable.

1. According to Block, functionalism is

A) implausible.

B) plausible.

C) proven empirically.

D) proven logically.

1. Block's Chinese brain argument is meant to show that functionalism

A) needs further development.

B) is false.

C) is too complex.

D) is too simple.

1. *According to Block, the Chinese brain system has

A) minimal awareness.

B) no mental states.

C) minimal consciousness.

D) mental states.

1. Block's Chinese brain thought experiment is an example of a(n) _______ argument.

A) full qualia

B) inverted spectrum

C) absent qualia

D) absent spectrum

1. The fact that your being thirsty seems to cause you to reach for a glass of water presents a problem for

A) functionalism.

B) substance dualism.

C) epiphenomenalism.

D) property dualism.

True or False Questions

1. Descartes is convinced that corporeal things exist and that he has a body.

A) True

B) False

1. Cartesian dualism says that the mind is identical with the body.

A) True

B) False

1. Descartes thinks that something that is conceivable is logically possible, and something that is inconceivable is logically impossible.

A) True

B) False

1. Descartes believes that consciousness must reside in the heart.

A) True

B) False

1. Searle believes in the possibility of strong AI.

A) True

B) False

1. *Nagel declares that the objective perspective is the true perspective.

A) True

B) False

1. *Searle believes that knowledge of what it is like to be a bat can be acquired through scientific investigation.

A) True

B) False

1. Nagel's argument suggests that mental states can be identical with brain states.

A) True

B) False

1. *Traditional philosophies of mind can be divided into dualist theories and materialist theories.

A) True

B) False

1. Fodor thinks that functionalism is a reductionist thesis.

A) True

B) False

1. The biggest challenge for property dualism is to explain the relationship between the mental and the physical?

A) True

B) False

1. *Qualitative content is a problem for functionalism.

A) True

B) False

1. Functionalism posits the existence of an immaterial substance.

A) True

B) False

1. Chalmers' arguments lead us inevitably to Cartesian dualism.

A) True

B) False

1. *Chalmers' theory is compatible with all the results of contemporary science.

A) True

B) False

1. Chalmers can accept a naturalistic understanding of the world and still reject materialism.

A) True

B) False

1. Smart denies that to say “I have a yellowish orange after-image” is to report something irreducibly psychical.

A) True

B) False

1. *On Smart's view, there are sensations.

A) True

B) False

1. Smart argues that since an after-image is not in physical space, and a brain process is, the after-image must not be a brain process.

A) True

B) False

1. Smart thinks that the possibility of zombies shows that they actually exist or will exist.

A) True

B) False

1. Chalmers's zombie is like the zombies found in Hollywood movies.

A) True

B) False

1. Block says that what makes the Chinese brain a counterexample to functionalism is that there is prima facie doubt whether it has any mental states.

A) True

B) False

1. *Block says that the Chinese brain has a functional organization that brings a mind into existence.

A) True

B) False

1. The Turing test had a powerful influence on the field of AI.

A) True

B) False

1. People only use terms syntactically while computers only use terms semantically.

A) True

B) False

1. Some AI experts believe that in the future, intelligent robots may acquire moral and legal rights.

A) True

B) False

Essay Questions

1. With Descartes's view, can we ever know that other minds exist? Why or why not?
2. *What point is Nagel trying to make with the bat example? How does the nature of subjective experience count against reductive theories of mind?
3. What reasons does Fodor give for preferring functionalism over competing theories? Why does Fodor prefer functionalism over the identity theory?
4. *Why does Searle say that strong AI is false?
5. What is the Chinese nation argument? Are you persuaded by it? Why or why not? What are some of the objections to the Chinese nation scenario that Block considers? Do any of these convince you that the Chinese nation argument is mistaken?
6. *What is the Chinese room thought experiment? What does it purport to show about strong AI?
7. How does Descartes use the notion of divisibility to argue that the mind exists independently from the body? Assess the argument.
8. *What is the identity theory? Is it an adequate solution to the mind–body problem? Why or why not?
9. *What is substance dualism? Why do many philosophers think it is an inadequate theory of mind? Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
10. What is property dualism? How does it differ substance dualism? Which kind of dualism do you think is more plausible? Explain.
11. What is the Turing test? Do you believe that the Turing test is an adequate test for intelligence? Why or why not?
12. If substance dualism is false, does that eliminate the possibility of an afterlife? Are the other theories of mind compatible with our continued existence after our death? Why or why not?