PHIL 001 Lecture 5: Minds and Machines
23 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
They are an important part of what makes us special . By comparison with much of the universe, that has neither. Today, we look at a different but related phenomenon that make us special & sets us apart from much of the universe: mental properties and capacities. Thoughts: believing, desiring, hoping, fearing supposing, considering, intending. Physical/material/bodily things like human bodies exhibit mentality. The physical and the mental appear to interact: a brain damage affects mental capacities. Physical mental: a decision leads to a bodily movement. Mental appears radically different and independent of physical. Difference: the inside", introspective", subjective", first-personal" character of minds. Including how it feels like", what it is like", to be in a certain mental state: the phenomenological character of experience. We can imagine that we exist without a body. We conceive of immaterial, spiritual beings with mental powers.
