Learning objective:
To recap what is meant by epiphenomenalism and evaluate how
successful it is as a tenable philosophy of mind position.
____________ dualists believe that the ____ depends upon
the _____. So it is unsurprising that damage to the _______
can affect your _____ or that ___(add your own example).
________dualism also fits better with the theory of
__________ than _______ dualism. Minds don’t appear fully
formed at some stage in our __________past, but emerge
gradually over millions of years. Similarly, your _____ was not
transplanted whole into your ______ transforming you from a
mindless baby into a fully __________ person but developed
____________.
However if mental __________ are irreducible but only
________ causes alone explain behaviour, then we are led to
the view that the _______ is a product of the ________, but
one that has no _________ influence on the body.
So, if property dualists accept the _______ closure of the
physical then ______ states may be produced by _______
brains, but mental states cannot have any reciprocal
_________ on the body.
___property_________ dualists believe that the __mind__ depends
upon the __brain___. So it is unsurprising that damage to the
___brain____ can affect your __mind___ or that ___(add your own
example).
____property____dualism also fits better with the theory of
_____evolution_____ than ____substance___ dualism. Minds don’t
appear fully formed at some stage in our _evolutionary_________past,
but emerge gradually over millions of years. Similarly, your __mind__
was not transplanted whole into your ____body__ transforming you
from a mindless baby into a fully ____conscious______ person but
developed ____gradually________.
However if mental ____properties______ are irreducible but only
___physical_____ causes alone explain behaviour, then we are led to
the view that the ____mind___ is a product of the ____brain____, but
one that has no ______casual___ influence on the body.
So, if property dualists accept the ____causal___ closure of the
physical then ___mental___ states may be produced by
__physical_____ brains, but mental states cannot have any reciprocal
___influence______ on the body.
Can you think of complex behaviours
that the body produces without the
presence of conscious experience?
T. H. Huxley (1825 – 95)
• Someone moves their hand quickly towards us
and we blink
• Victims of spinal injury with no feeling in their
legs will react to being tickled by curling toes
Huxley says that we have no reason to suppose
that conscious experiences are involved in the
causal process. Things happen automatically, or
are merely incidental. Our actions are
completely causally determined by processes in
the brain and body. So while these produce
conscious experiences, these mental properties
have no causal role in our behaviour.
Complete the strengths column
strengths
weaknesses
Strengths
Avoids Cartesian problem of how a nonmaterial substance can intervene in the
physical.
Respects the desire for a scientific
explanation for human behaviour.
Accommodates the dependence of
conscious life on the brain
Fits well with evolution
Consistent with experience (mental states
caused by brain changes and so
accompany the impact of physical things
on our bodies.
Weaknesses
Reflect on the questions to try and
come up with objections to
epiphenomenalism
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