What Philosopher Warped thoughts

Free Will, David Hume Compatabilism: Our world is deterministic, BUT we have free will. You are morally responsible
Determinism and for what you do, provided the desire you act on is one that you endorse, it is a considered
Fatalism desire.

Jean-Paul Sarte & Richard Taylor Our world is NOT deterministic; we have free will because we are capable of making
spontaneous choices – choices that are literally uncaused.

Galen Strawson, Nietzsche Moral Nihilism: there is NO such thing as moral responsibility regardless of whether the world is
deterministic or not, since either way you have no control over prior causes. Incompatabilism:
moral responsibility cannot coexist with either.

Hedonism Advocators: Roger Crisp, Jeremy Hedonism: The only thing that is absolutely good is pleasure and the only thing that is absolutely
Bentham bad is pain or suffering.

Anti-Hedonists: Robert Nozick Oyster Argument, Lives Barely Worth Living, Argument from Beauty
Experience Machine (Robert Nozick)

Duties to Peter Singer If we can prevent something very bad from happening without sacrificing anything morally
Strangers - significant, then we ought (we have a duty) to do so. PETER SINGER argues that our relationship
to the drowning child does not differ in any morally relevant way to our failure to save people
dying in Africa. Both actions are equally wrong; there is no morally relevant difference.
(Equivalence Thesis, which says that killing and letting die are equally bad)
 Friedman FRIEDMAN argues that it depends on how much it would cost to save the child + how much the
child’s life is worth. A human life is not infinitely valuable, we implicitly put a price on lives, best
estimated by lifetime income.

Puppies & Pigs Norcross It’s wrong to consume factory farmed animals.
(Factory-farming)
Detractors: Loren Lomasky Value hedonism is a correct theory, as far as it applies to farm animals.
The life of a typical factory-farmed animal contains more pleasure than pain
Factory farmed animals exist only because people consume factory-farmed meat, eggs, etc.
There’s nothing wrong with engaging in behavior that promotes the creation of lives worth
living.

Why Does God George Carlin (Atheist: You believe Does the existence of evils compel us towards believing there is NO good? The argument from
Allow Suffering? that God does NOT exist) evil states that the existence of all these evils – torture, rape, murder, famine and despair,
(Argument from proves that God does NOT exist.
Evil)

Pascal’s Wager Pascal Pascal tries to convince you of believing in God even without arguing for the existence of God.
Expected Utility Reasoning: Potential infinite gain/ loss against finite loss/ gain.
 George Carlin - Why would God reward you for believing in Him out of practical considerations?
- What kind of God would refuse to reward someone just because she didn’t believe in
Him?
-

Can Computers John Searle Argues AGAINST the computational theory of cognition; i.e. saying thinking doesn’t just involve
Think? computation, it isn’t about running the correct programs.
[COGNITION] Chinese Room argument; Simulation argument - computers just simulate thought, their seeming
understanding isn’t real understanding

Robot Objection: Searle isn’t currently computationally equivalent to Chinese speakers; he

ought to be embedded within a robot capable of sensing its environment and updating
information just like other Chinese speakers.
Systems Objection: Searle himself is not computationally equivalent to any ordinary Chinese
speaker, but the system as a whole has that computational equivalence.

Physicalism & Frank Jackson Dualist: Conscious experience is NOT a purely physical phenomenon. Sensations are caused by,
Dualism but not the same as, chemical reactions in your brain.
[CONSCIOUSNESS] Knowledge Argument
(1) You could know everything about the physical nature of some creature, and yet not know
everything about that creature’s conscious experience.
(2) If physicalism were true, this would be impossible.
(3) Therefore physicalism is false.
 Physicalism: A creature’s conscious experiences are just part of the creature’s physical nature.
Ability Objection: Mary did learn something new when she saw the tomato - BUT only in the
sense that she acquires a new ABILITY, not new information.
“Knowing what it’s like” objection: Saying Mary doesn’t know what it is like to see red is simply
saying Mary hasn’t seen red before which is true and completely compatible with physicalism.

The Extended Clark & Chalmers 1. If a part of the world performs a function which we would have no hesitation in
Mind recognizing as part of the cognitive process, were it performed by something in the
head, then that part of the world is part of the mind.
2. Otto’s notebook performs a function which, were it performed in Otto’s head, we would
have no hesitation in recognizing as part of Otto’s mind (namely, Otto’s long-term
memory).
3. Therefore, Otto’s notebook is part of Otto’s mind.

Principle of Leibniz The PSR states that every contingent (non-necessary) fact has some explanation.
Sufficient Reason In other words: if it is true that P, but did not have to be true that P, then there is some reason
why it is true that P.

David Hume argues against the Hume says: if I explain each part of a whole, I explain the whole.
cosmological argument

The Character of Chalmers

Consciousness