Chong-Fuk Lau

Lecture 9
November 12, 2020

PHIL 1110
Introduction to Philosophy
哲學概論
Cartesian Dualism
• The I in “I think, therefore I am”.
• Substance Dualism
• Extended thing: spatial, divisible
• Thinking thing: simple, conscious
• Interactionism & Ghost in the Machine
• Human beings consist of a mind and a body; animals
have no mind, they are just machines!
• Mind and body are united and interact with each other.
• Interaction takes place in the pineal gland of the brain.
Pineal Gland: The Seat of the Soul?
• According to today’s knowledge,
the pineal gland is responsible for
the production of a hormone
called melatonin.
• “although the soul is joined to the
whole body, nevertheless there is a
certain part of the body where it
exercises its functions more
particularly than in all the others” Pineal Gland ( 松果
(The Passions of the Soul) 腺 ): A small (8 mm)
• Problems of Interactionism reddish-gray body
Non-Cartesian Dualism:
Occasionalism and Parallelism
Occasionalism

Parallelism
Descartes and Philosophy of Mind
• A Trilemma
• Mental phenomena are not physical phenomena
(Mind-Body Dualism).
• Some mental phenomena cause physical phenomena,
and vice verse (Mind-Body Interactionism).
• Every physical phenomenon has a wholly physical
cause. (Causal Closure Principle)
• Gilbert Ryle: the Dogma of “Ghost in the Machine”
• How do I know that other minds exist?
• Animals as Machines?
• Language as the Expression of Mind
From Dualism to Monism
• Substance Monism ( 實體一元論 )
• There is ultimately only one kind of substance.
• Mind and body are not two different kinds of things.
• Two Possibilities
• Everything is mental → Idealism (or Phenomenalism)
• Everything is physical → Physicalism (or
Materialism)
• Contemporary theories tend to accept physicalism
• Behaviorism, Identity Theory, Functionalism, Property
Dualism etc. are either physicalism or very near to
physicalism.
• Strong support from neuroscience!
Neuroscience
• Your brain, spinal cord and
peripheral nerves make up a
complex system called the
nervous system.
• The scientific study of the brain
and nervous system is called
neuroscience or neurobiology.
• Cognitive Science is the
interdisciplinary study of how
information is represented and
transformed in the brain.
Division of Labor
Methods of Studying the Brain
• Experiments on animals & humans
• Ablation
• Electrical Stimulation
• Specific behavioral deficits
of patients with brain lesions
• Imaging techniques
• EEG (Electroencephalography)
• CAT (or CT, Computerized Axial Tomography Scans)
• PET (Positron Emission Tomography Scans)
• fMRI (or MRI, functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging)
• MEG (Magnetoencephalography)
Split Brain: Left and Right
Brain Hemispheres
• Our brain has two
hemispheres, the right
brain and the left brain,
connected by a mass of
nerve fibers called the
corpus callosum ( 胼胝
體 ).
Hemispheric Lateralization
• Some patients
suffered from severe
epilepsy. The seizures
can be diminished by
cutting the corpus
callosum.
• Therefore, the left and
the right brain of
these patients can be
tested independently.
Man or Woman?
A split-brain patient is asked to say what
he sees. Which one would be his answer?
A) Man B) Woman
C) Half Woman, Half Man
D) None of the Above

If the patient is asked to point to a picture

of the face that was just seen, which one
would he choose?
A) Man B) Woman
C) Half Woman Left, Half Man Right
D) Half Man Left, Half Woman Right
The left brain tells the story?
• Each hemisphere was presented a
picture that related to one of four
pictures placed in front of the split-
brain subject.
• The left and right hemispheres easily
picked the right card.
• The patient was asked why the left
hand pointed to the shovel.
• The left hemisphere made up a story
about what it could see.
• “That’s easy, the chicken claw goes
with the chicken and you need a
shovel to clean out the chicken
shed.”
Benjamin Libet’s Experiment
Who decides? You or Your Brain?
Readiness Potential
Readings
• Rachels, Problems from Philosophy, Chapters 6 & 7.
• Nagel, What Does It All Mean?, Chapter 4.