Questions tagged [philosophy-of-mind]
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain.
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Do we need philosophy to justify the existence of other minds?
Can we justify the existence of other minds without philosophy?
Would it be rational and would it really be a valid justification for the existence of other minds? Again, this question concerns ...
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What type of reasoning is this? Abduction, inference to the best explanation, induction?
My mind is responsible for my behavior.
Other people are very similar to me biologically.
Other people have behaviors similar to mine.
Possible explanations:
Solipsism says that my mind created other ...
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Is it reasonable to use induction to justify belief in the existence of other minds?
Is it reasonable to use an argument by analogy (induction) to justify belief in the existence of other minds?
The principle of the uniformity of nature is used in the argument by analogy.
https://...
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Is the principle of uniformity of nature an abduction or an analogy?
Is the principle of uniformity of nature an abduction or an analogy?
To what type of reasoning does the principle of uniformity of nature belong? Is it abduction, analogy, deduction?
Here they refer ...
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Does the argument by analogy in favor of the existence of other minds lead to solipsism?
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#ArguAnal
I can't understand the article. Here it is said that the argument by analogy inevitably leads to solipsism. Then it is said that the argument ...
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Is there circular reasoning here? What type of reasoning does this belong to? [duplicate]
Is there circular reasoning here?
What type of argument is this:
abduction (inference to best explanation) or analogy?
I know from my experience how people who have mental states should behave.
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What are the criteria of explanatory power?
What are the criteria of explanatory power?
What are the criteria of explanatory power? I can't find the criteria.
In the case of solipsism and the existence of other conditions, the assessment of the ...
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Are there circular reasoning in these explanations? [duplicate]
Other people have minds like mine because:
1.
Other people have minds like mine:
other people are biologically very similar to me
the behavior of other people is very similar to my behavior.
my ...
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Are all arguments for the existence of other minds circular?
The argument from analogy and the best explanation argument (IBE) rely on the claim that my mental states are responsible for my behavior and then conclude that the behavior of other people is caused ...
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What exactly is the implausibility and unconvincingness of solipsism? [closed]
Solipsism is unconvincing and implausible because it is a complex and confusing explanation.
Solipsism offers two different explanations for no reason at all: one for my behavior and one for other ...
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Whose perspective on evidence is correct: Hitchens's razor or Carl Sagan's? [closed]
Hitchens's razor states, "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence," while Carl Sagan argues, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." ...
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Are agent explanations better than non agent explanations?
Suppose you were using a telescope and zooming into Jupiter on the surface and saw a rock that had a face that looked very very much like your great grand mother. Suppose that it was very detailed to ...
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Divided brain thought experiment: what is an analog of Born rule in biology? [closed]
Consider the following thoght experiment: your brain is divided in two and then each part is inserted in new body and regenerated (using future medicine), including all memories being restored. So, ...
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Picture relationship diagram gives suggestions.Thanks! [closed]
Picture relationship diagram gives suggestions.Thanks!
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What is the difference between mind and consciousness?
I have heard the terms "mind" and "consciousness" used interchangeably, but I am now wondering, is there a difference between them? If so, what is the difference between them? I ...
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Which simplicity is given greater priority: explanatory simplicity or ontological simplicity? [duplicate]
If solipsism wins in quantitative simplicity, is that a reason to believe in solipsism?
Or does the fact that the existence of other minds wins in explanatory simplicity neutralize the quantitative ...
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How do people justify their belief in other minds and reject solipsism if Occam's Razor does not provide an answer? [closed]
How does Occam's Razor result affect what we should believe?
If Occam's Razor says that solipsism wins in quantitative simplicity, and the existence of other minds wins in explanatory simplicity, then ...
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Is there the language in the mind and how it changes based on the language in the world?
I have realized that I was thinking in keywords, just like I use on Google, and not in the words itself. So I started to think if there is a "language" that the mind uses to create language ...
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What is the philosophical answer to: Why do Humans Harm the Harmless?
I am currently undergoing a philosophy project at school where we were able to choose any question to answer in the format of an essay. I have chosen this question but the amount of information I have ...
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The Nature and Durability of Bonds Formed in Constrained Environments: A Philosophical Inquiry
I've been reflecting on the nature of friendships that form in environments where individuals are brought together by circumstances beyond their usual choosing, such as addiction rehabilitation ...
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What well-discussed alternatives are there to the Extended Mind Thesis?
The Extended Mind Thesis holds that we should consider "cognition" to include the process of using external cognitive tools (rather than only considering processes internal to our brain).
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Will the use of AI reduce our capacity to think? [duplicate]
In light of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), there's a growing concern regarding its potential impact on human cognition.
Individuals like Elon Musk; Nick Bostrom of the ...
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Is it even possible to know, from the outside, whether a physical system is conscious?
I take it for granted that other humans, and other higher animals like chimpanzees and dogs and cats, are conscious. But is it even possible to know, from the outside, whether a physical system is ...
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Can one be cruel to nonsentient things?
I recently read a paper in the journal "Analysis" titled, "Can one be cruel to a chair?". This got me thinking, can people be cruel to nonsentient objects? I believe that, while ...
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Is belief nothing but a feeling of certainty about what something means?
Or to rephrase, can beliefs also be shaped by doubts and intuitions?
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Is the fundamental nature of knowledge intimately linked to the fundamental nature of minds (consciousness)?
This is a follow-up to Is knowledge non-physical?.
Can knowledge exist outside of minds?
Can something devoid of consciousness truly possess knowledge? Consider objects like books, inscribed rocks, ...
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Is AI Mimicking or Simulating? [closed]
In the current applied ethics debate, a serious push to anthropomorphize or understand AI in human terms is underway. What many scholars point to is how LLMs allow AI to replicate and respond to our ...
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Does mind-body dualism entail supernaturalism?
The concept of mind-body dualism emphasizes a profound division between the mental and physical dimensions of human existence, positing the body as physical and the mind as non-physical. With this ...
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Under reductive materialism, could the same brain state evoke distinct conscious experiences (qualia) in two universes within a multiverse?
For the sake of discussion, let's grant the validity of reductive materialism. Moreover, let's entertain the notion that our universe is just one among an infinite (or significantly vast) number of ...
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Does psychophysical harmony strongly point toward theism?
From Psychophysical Harmony: A New Argument for Theism, by Brian Cutter & Dustin Crummett:
Abstract
This paper develops a new argument from consciousness to theism: the argument from ...
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How does thinking take place? [closed]
Thinking is done by and in the mind. The mind is not the brain. The mind is a communication and control system between the spirit (soul) and its environment. In order to achieve this, it uses the ...
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If the brain can't think, what does? [closed]
I often read in philosophical discussions (in here and elsewhere) the word "brain" connected to higher level human functions, like thought, even consciousness. If this was a scientific place,...
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Is the question of Identity more difficult than the question of Free Will?
The experience of free will certainly exists. That is, whatever is happening when a decision is made by a conscious agent, the agent experiences feelings like indecision, fear, or desire feeding into ...
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Which philosopher fits the following description? [closed]
I'm not a philosopher so please forgive me if this question does not belong here
here is a list of my interpretation of other philosophers that I'm familiar with
Their names
Their words
My ...
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What would happen if I suddenly lost consciousness?
What would happen if I (my body) suddenly lost consciousness? Let's say a freak accident caused the part of my brain responsible for connecting/creating/hallucinating my "being", my ...
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On the conceivability of philosophical zombies [duplicate]
A big question in the philosophy of consciousness is whether philosophical zombies are conceivable, and if they are, are they also metaphysically possible. I believe the answer is yes. At least, I can ...
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Are self-awareness and introspection the same?
I've read some definitions of these two and I believe that they are fundamentally the same thing. Introspection is examining one's own thoughts. If the thought is of yourself then that clearly leads ...
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Can individuality be copied? [closed]
Let's do a thought experiment, You are sleeping in a sensory deprivation tank 1, there is another tank next to you let's call it tank 2. Now there is a hypothetical machine M, which is a Universal 3-D ...
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Why judge, it makes no sense [closed]
what I mean by this is, why should I do that project or why should I just do anything other than the natural laws of human life?
Why should you care what I wear or like if it does not directly hurt ...
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Why is emotivism unpopular?
I grew up in a protestant American household. I worked hard to redefine my beliefs, epistemology, and ultimately my meta-ethical views as those that I could defend. I find that emotivism is easily the ...
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Head thought reading by others, analyzing this hypothetical situation [closed]
Suppose a person has a feeling that others can read their mind and thoughts.
Suppose others present themselves in certain ways.
How can a person discover what algorithms of data presentation the other ...
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When will a Philosopher stop asking questions? [closed]
Apparently Philosophers keep asking questions and "ALL" of their questions involve some form of contradiction, or some form of critical analysis. What will be the "end game" where ...
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Does a program imply a programmer? [closed]
I propose there are 2 methods with which we could replicate consciousness.
A physical replication of the brain where consciousness would emerge from a physical replication of a brains neural network.
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About the validity of the Zombie concept
Related Posts that I read:
why zombies' existence imply physicalism is false
"Could all of us be zombies" assumption
Context
Just to make sure we talk about the same type of Zombie, here ...
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Is it mathematically known what the complexity limit (and class) of a pattern to learn is, for a given machine learning algorithm? [closed]
Given a learning algorithm such as those used in ChatGPT, can we calculate based on the number of neural network parameters what the largest “pattern” the algorithm could learn would be (based on some ...
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Arguments for a Socratic Daimon and Embodiment: A Dialogue between an A-pneumatic and Pneumatic: Is this coherent? [closed]
Dear all, can you help me find any inconsistencies from theory of mind, philosophy of mind and phenomenology of percetion in this dialogue?
A conversation between an a-pneumatic and a pneumatic:
A-...
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Can we prove the statement "truth exists"? [closed]
It seems that to prove this statement, you cannot assume the notion of true or false, otherwise its circular, meaning that the proof contains no reference to the concepts of true or false.
This ...
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Consciousness by John Searle
In a referenced interview, Searle outlines a condensed theory of consciousness with three key assumptions:
Consciousness is real, including illusions.
It is caused by brain processes (neural ...
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Why do I have the perception of a chair (or other objects) ? - first person experience question
I'm asking variations of this question (in discussions elsewhere).
Some people seem to get what I mean, and say "I think that important etc etc but I do not know the answer" and others say &...
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Where would consciousness be located in a machine? [closed]
The conscious thought I experience is behind my eyes and is located within my skull. I assume that experience is common. however, it may not be?
In replicating consciousness in a machine such as a ...
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