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What is the divisibility argument?

What is the divisibility argument?

The divisibility argument is one of three of Descartes’ arguments for substance dualism: that is the view that the mind and body are separate. The argument runs as follows: Bodies are divisible into spatial parts. Minds are not divisible into spatial parts. Therefore, the mind is a distinct substance from the body.

Does Conceivability entail possibility?

Conceivability is prima facie evidence of metaphysical possibility, but it does not entail metaphysical possibility.

What is Jackson’s knowledge argument?

The knowledge argument against physicalism centers on the claim that complete physical knowledge does not enable knowledge of consciousness. Jackson argues that Mary knows all the physical facts but not all the facts about color experience, so some facts about color experience are not physical facts.

What is the purpose of the zombie argument?

Zombie arguments. Zombie arguments often support lines of reasoning that aim to show that zombies are metaphysically possible in order to support some form of dualism – in this case the view that the world includes two kinds of substance (or perhaps two kinds of property): the mental and the physical.

What is Descartes indivisibility argument?

Descartes’ primary metaphysical justification of the distinction of mind and body is the Argument from Indivisibility. This Indivisibility Argument makes use of Leibniz’s Law of Identity: two things are the same if, and only if, they have all of the same properties at the same time.

Why does Descartes think that you can always divide body?

Why does he think you can ALWAYS divide the body? He says it is ‘by nature always divisible’. Clearly he means its extended nature, which obviously allows cutting it at any point or points along its extension thereby dividing it.

What is positive Conceivability?

It is simplest to start with the case of positive conceivability. When one imagines a situation, one can consider it as actual (as a way the world might actually be), or one can consider it as counterfactual (as a way the world might have been).

What is the hard problem in philosophy?

The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of explaining why any physical state is conscious rather than nonconscious. It is the problem of explaining why there is “something it is like” for a subject in conscious experience, why conscious mental states “light up” and directly appear to the subject.

What is the meaning of knowledge argument?

The knowledge argument aims to establish that conscious experience involves non-physical properties. It rests on the idea that someone who has complete physical knowledge about another conscious being might yet lack knowledge about how it feels to have the experiences of that being.

What makes a problem of consciousness easy?

The easy problems of consciousness are those that seem directly susceptible to the standard methods of cognitive science, whereby a phenomenon is explained in terms of computational or neural mechanisms. The hard problems are those that seem to resist those methods.

Are zombies aware?

In Schlozman’s view, zombies are much like a crocodile. They may not be conscious in the same way humans are, but they are aware of their surroundings and respond to their environment.

Who believed in monism?

The term “monism” itself is relatively recent, first used by the 18th Century German philosopher Christian von Wolff (1679 – 1754) to designate types of philosophical thought in which the attempt was made to eliminate the dichotomy of body and mind (see the section on Philosophy of Mind for more details).

What is the conceivability argument for substance dualism?

This is known as The Conceivability Argument: 1. I can clearly conceive existing without my body 2. What is clearly conceivable is possible 3. So it is possible for me to exist without my body 4. So I am neither identical with, nor a part of my body 5. So substance dualism is true

What did Descartes mean by the conceivability argument?

In Descartes Sixth Meditation, he states one of his arguments for the mind and body being distinct. This is known as The Conceivability Argument: 1. I can clearly conceive existing without my body 2. What is clearly conceivable is possible 3. So it is possible for me to exist without my body 4. So I am neither identical with, nor a part of my body

Is it possible for God to create anything conceivable?

God can create a world where whatever is conceivable is metaphysically possible because all things which I apprehend clearly and distinctly can be created by God. Thus anything conceivable becomes an actual truth. For example God cant create a square circle as it is not metaphysically possible.

When does anything conceivable become an actual truth?

Thus anything conceivable becomes an actual truth. For example God cant create a square circle as it is not metaphysically possible. But God can create me, a thinking thing, distinct from my extended body since they may be made to exist in separation at least by the omnipotence of God.