The MindBody Relation

1
The Mind-Body Relation

• Dualism human beings are composed of
  a material body and an
  immaterial mind
  which are distinct from each other (Descartes)
• Problem how do minds and bodies interact?
• Proposed answers parallelism (Leibniz),
  occasionalism (Malebranche)
• Reductive materialism all so-called
  mental actions are really nothing more
  than measurable physical processes
  (Hobbes)

2
Contemporary Materialist Theories

• Mind-Brain (Identity) Theory thoughts and
  states of consciousness are simply brain states
• Problem brain states and consciousness have
  different (e.g., spatial) properties
• Behaviorism to have a mind is to behave or be
  disposed to behave in certain ways
• Functionalism mental states are associations or
  linkages of sensory stimuli and behaviors
• Eliminative Materialism we should replace terms
  like thought with material expressions

3
The Turing Test

• If there is no difference between the
  performances of a computer and a human being, the
  computer can be said to think
• Objection thinking involves more than following
  a program it involves awareness or consciousness
  of what following the program means (Searle)