Persons

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  • Created by: Katrina
  • Created on: 11-05-13 12:57
Is rationality considered a necessary condition of personhood?
Yes
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Who suggested the rationality theory?
Aristotle, but Descartes and Kant agree
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Describe rationality
Being able to weigh up various options and consider which might be of value
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What is Locke's defenition of personhood?
A thinking intelligent being that has reasons and reflection and can consider itself as itself in different times and places.
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Define the possesion of a network of beliefs (in terms of persons)
Our rational nature enables us to come to and hold a variety of beliefs about the world that we live in
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Define autonomy (in terms of persons)
Not being governed by our instincts. We are able to control and make our desires. Self-rule
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Define Being a social animal (in terms of persons)
We should live amongst others . We are defined by our relationships etc which makes us the kind of person that we are
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Define self-creation (in terms of persons)
The capacity to make decisions about the kind of person you wish to be
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Define speech and language (in terms of persons)
DONALD DAVIDSON- language is necessary to the formation of beliefs about the world and to be able to reason about them.
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Define the sense of a future and a past (in terms of persons)
The sense that an individual has a future and a past- including morality. Someone who cannot see past the present moment cannot recognize the consequences of their actions.
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Define self-awareness (in terms of persons)
We are not merely sentient- sense the world around us- but aware of ourselves being so
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Is self-awareness a necessary condition for personhood?
Yes
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What is a functionalist and what do they say (optimism about machines as persons)
We define a things by its function and so if something displays the functions of a mind then it is a mind regardless of what it is made of.
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What is the Turing test?
If a computer could fool a human person (Psychologist) the functionally, we ought to consider that machine as a person
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What does Franz Brentano say about machines as persons? (pessimism)
Machines may lack intentionality. When considering objects or states of mind there must be more thought than just what the object is. We must intend to believe or desire something about it.
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Explain Ned Block's "China brain"
Imagine if the whole population of china was to be furnished with phones and signals and so on. It may indeed function like a mind ie giving and recieving signals and acting upon them, but it lacks unified consciousness
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Explain John Searle's "The Chinese room"
Imagine a person locked inside a room, inside the room in a rule book. It says if you recieve one input of various symbols then you are to output various symbols
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What is John Searle's point in "The Chinese room"
The person in the room doesn't understand what the symbols mean. It may look like he does on the outside but he doesn't. The person only understands the rules of the room.
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What is the systems reply to Searle?
Even though the man fails to understand the chinese symbols, the room as a whole can understand the symbols.
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What is searle's reply to the systems reply?
It is nonsense to suggest that the man, plus the rulebook, plus the pencils, paper and so on have any greater understanding of Chinese,
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What is the brain simulators reply to Searle?
If a room were redesigned so that to include a replica of a Chinese brain, down to the level of neurons firing, then we could say, if it passed the Turing test that it understood Chinese.
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What is the fair conclusion to reach about machines as persons?
It is fair to doubt that any machines is the forseeable future could have anything like what we would describe as a mind.
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What was Locke's views on psychological continuity?
Believes in the soul. Even in my body should die the essential part of me that is my soul will live on after death. Our consciousness in indevisable.
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What was Descartes' view on psychological continuity?
The number one condition of personhood was that we were a thinking thing, which is an immaterial substance distinct from the body.
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Give a criticism of Descartes
There is no reason to suppose that being disembodied is possible since all our experiences are directed through our sense organs and these in themselves are physical so it would be hard to conceive what it is we would be imagining
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Explain the criticism of commissurotomy
(seperation of the 2 hemispheres are the brain) demostarted that it is possible to divide the self. One part of the brain can undertake activities without the other half being aware. This suggests that experience of a unified self may be an illusion
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Explain the knowledge of the brain criticism in response to descartes
Knowledge of the brain has shown that our conscious self is clearly dependent upon the physical structure of the brain. Brain damage or drugs can have a profound effect on our conscious self.
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Explain the laws of physics argument in response to Descartes
Descartes' theory has been shown to violate some of the laws of physics, according to the laws of physics, it is impossible.
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What is the implication of memory being a necessary and sufficient condition of personhood?
When memory is lost then so is identity.
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Explain Thomas Reid's story of the old general
There was an old general who remembered being a brave soldier in battle. The brave solider remembered being a boy flogged for stealing apples. However the general doesn't remember being the boy
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How does Parfit modify Locke's theory of memory?
He said that identity is like a rope and each memory is a strand. Some strands reach the fiull length of the rope while others don't but all combine together as a whole.
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Define physical continuity
That we have occupied a continuous location in space and time.
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Describe the problem of our body replacing cells
Over the course of a lifetime our body is perpetually replacing cells . By the end of an average lifetime none of the cells that you were born with are in your body as they have all been replaced.
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What are Locke's conditions for physical continuity?
Must retain the same form (the same basic blueprint) and Must not suffer a radical break.
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What is the problem with having the brain as a sufficient and necessary condition of personhood?
The brain can undergo serious damage and still function
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What is the simple self theory?
A person is necessarily mental and physical.
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What is the language of identity?
Hume said that strictly speaking there is no such thing as personal identity. It is an illusion that is adopted on the basis of simplicity.
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What is parfit's conclusion of survival?
The continued identity of something is not what matters, but it is that the important bits of us survive. We must have psychological conectedness
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What is the problem with Parfit's conclusion?
Loosening of identity also loosens the capacity to hold one responsible over time.
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What did Descartes say about animals as persons?
Reason is the only thing that seperates the man from the beasts
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What did Kant say about animals as persons?
Rationality and reason is lacked in animals
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What did Donald Davidson say about animals as persons?
Animals are incapable of language and so incapable of forming meaningful concepts and networks of beliefs.
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What did Hume say as animals as persons?
Animals are in fact capable of thought and reason
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What does Darwin's theory of evoloution suggest his thoughts were about animals as persons?
The difference between us and animals is purely biological. Some brains are structured similarly but differences should not be exaggerated.
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What did Peter Singer say about animals as persons?
It is about whether or not an animal has moral value.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Who suggested the rationality theory?

Back

Aristotle, but Descartes and Kant agree

Card 3

Front

Describe rationality

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is Locke's defenition of personhood?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Define the possesion of a network of beliefs (in terms of persons)

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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Comments

Cansu Kurnaz

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Really good flashcards, all the basic stuff you need for Persons! 

Jane Fraser

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So useful! Thank you!

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