Intro to Philosophy Notes (August-December 2012)

Logic

Deductive Arguments premises offered as proving the conclusion

Validity: if premises are true the conclusion is true
Soundness: premises are indeed true thus conclusion is true (an argument cannot be
sound without being valid first)

Inductive Arguments premises aim to make conclusion probable

Strong or Weak: If strong conclusion is probable
Cogent (Cogency): If premises are true the argument is cogent (and strong)
Ennumerative Induction: applying beliefs about few to a whole
Reasoning by Analogy
Inference to Best Explanation (abduction) example: proving a murder trial

Modus Ponens (MP) : Affirming the antecedent (if signifies antecedent, then signifies consequent)
1. if P then Q 2. P 3. therefore Q
Modus Tollens (MT): Denying the consequent
1. if P then Q 2. Not Q 3. therefore not Q
Disjunctive Syllogism (DS): Denying the disjunctive
1. Eitehr P or Q 2. Not Q 3. therefore P
Reductio Ad Absurdum: Reduce to a contradiction

Fallacies of Reasoning

Ad Hominem: attacks character of person or person in general instead of argument

Argument from Authority: claiming that if someone illustrious believes in it you should
too
Arguing in a circle
Appeal to ignorance: arguing that the lack of evidence proves something
False Dilemma: simplifying several possibilities to only two
Slippery Slope: doing A will lead to B which will lead to disaster
Straw Man: ignore evidence of the opponents argument and diminish the argument to something
more simplified and easier to debunk (distort anothers argument)
Genetic Fallacy: arguing against something because its origins are questionable
Fallacy of Composition: erroneous inference- attributes of parts of a whole are equal to the
attributes of the whole
Inconsistency: Contradiction

Philosophy of Mind

Monism
Physicalism (materialism)
Identity theory (reductive materialism): brain=mind (mental state/processes are
numerically identical with a physical process in brain/cns, brain research will eventually reveal these)
*historical substantiation: perception of heat and sound (intertheoretic reduction: when a new,
strong theory perfectly mirrors an old theory) intertheoretic identities: light is electromagnetic waves,
temperature is mean molecular kinetic energy etc.
*nothing guarantees we will discover the precise physical states that mirror mental processes,
theory not completely validated
Functionalism: the mind is the functions the brain performs
*functionalism vs. behaviorism: behaviorism defines each mental state only in terms of
environmental input an behavioral output, functionalist contests possibility
*functionally isomorphic (isomorphic=identical in form) alien argument . . . essentially:
mental processes rely on the structure of internal activities in matter not what kind of matter or the quantity of
matter it rests on
*reject identity theorists mental type=physical type instead adopt mental token=physical
token, maintains that physical processes=mental processes but not universal identities, psychology should be
methodologically autonomous from other physical sciences
*claims psychology has its own irreducible laws, explores abstract mental states
*ignores qualitative feature of mental states: sensory qualia (qualia=individual,
subjective experience: the pain of a headache, how one views gradiations of
colours etc.) (sensory qualia this is intrinsically imperative to the mind/brain connection)
Eliminative Materialism: one-to-one matchups will not be found between physical and mental
states (as identity theorists believe) folk psychology is a misrepresentation, older framework will be eliminated,
a new framework will be developed and we will reconceive everything
Historical and scientific substantiation: witches, psychotic states etc. we do not know what
sleep is, much is remains unknown and many things will be refuted
familiar mental states do not really exist, most of our knowledge of psychology is inaccurate
and our mind/brain is too mysterious to surmise anything
possibly exaggerates flaws in folk psychology

identity theory=more concrete, functionalism=more abstract

idealism: all reality is mental

Dualism
Property Dualism (nonreductive materialism): mind is a property of the
body (something the body possesses)
mind cannot exist without the body
mental properties are not functional, physical or spiritual
mental properties are not reducible to the physical
epiphenomenalism: the mind to the body as smoke to fire (smoke causes nothing;
the mind causes/acts upon nothing)
Substance Dualism: mind is distinct from body, can cause things to happen, exists
when body ceases to function (Descartes believes in an immortal soul)

Substance=Something that can exist without anything else