Intelligence And Consciousness Controversy

Intelligence And Consciousness Controversy
Intelligence and Consciousness are two very controversial topics discussed in neuroscience,
psychology, and philosophy. They are both labels for inner–workings of the brain, so they cannot
easily be identified. The existence itself of intelligence is not very controversial, because it refers to
the brain's capacity for memory, learning, and ability to reason and problem–solve. However, the
measurement of intelligence is very oversimplified and unreliable. Consciousness is significantly
more debatable because it is essentially impossible (at least by today's standards) to develop an
objective list of criteria to identify consciousness. Very little is known about it other than the fact
that we feel as if we have a single consciousness. The two ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
If this statement does not apply to something, then it is not conscious. For example, there is nothing
it "is like to be" a rock, conclusively, rocks are not conscious. This description, however, becomes
significantly less definitive when applied to other animals and insects. Consciousness can be defined
as awareness, thought, and the ability to deliberately make a decision using logic, reason, and
emotion. There is a significant amount of controversy surrounding even the mere existence of
consciousness. Some philosophers debate that there is no such thing as consciousness, it is just and
illusion. This theory seems to leave holes because we feel as if we are directly experiencing
consciousness. Another theory is that consciousness is not necessary for life and zombies would be
unidentifiable in regular life. This, however, also feels extreme because it seems that the zombie
would have very little thought behind his or her actions and words, and would only operate
logically, with no real emotions. There are so many theories because virtually nothing is known
about consciousness. It feels that there are different states of consciousness, different levels of
awakeness, sleep, and sometimes altered states from drugs or
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

Consciousness : The Conscious Mind Essay
Consciousness in Animals The conscious mind is a complex thing that has many questions that
science is yet to answer. The conscious is composed by awareness and responsiveness in one's mind,
it is expressed by one's emotions, thoughts, and actions. Consciousness to me is defined by the
ability to be aware and responsive. Awareness is an element that distinguishes the conscious from
the unconscious. To be aware is to be knowledgeable of your surroundings and to know what is
happening in the world around you. Similar to awareness, the ability to respond to situations or react
is part of consciousness. Responding can be interpreted as emotions, actions, and thoughts, these are
important factors that contribute to the overall concept of consciousness.
As consciousness remains an unsolved mystery to the science world, we know a lot about elements
that make up the consciousness. Some of the elements associated with consciousness is one's unique
thoughts, memories, feelings and sensations. These elements are seen not only in human
consciousness but in animal conscious as well. We are able to study consciousness by observing the
behavior in humans and animals. Observing these actions we are able to see how consciousness
affects the subject 's life in an everyday basis. As we expand our knowledge of consciousness in the
human mind, we question and explore the consciousness in the mind of animals. The big question
here is: Are animals conscious? The abundant amount of studies

The Bats, the Blind, and the Butterflies Essay
No one can deny that science has evolved rapidly throughout history. One question, however, has
not been able to be answered, even though it has been asked from times as far back as Plato. Do
humans have minds; a separate entity from the physical brain that allows us to think? Or is there
only a brain, controlling everything including choices and emotions? Thoughts have no physical
properties, so how is it that they reside in a physical container such as the brain? These questions all
describe the "mind–body problem."
In the article, "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" author Thomas Nagel provides his own view on the
mind–body problem. He begins by stating that consciousness is the reason why the mind–body
problem is so controversial ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Next, Nagel refers to an animal in particular: bats. He chooses the bat because it is a mammal that is
closely related to humans but has an absolutely different perception of the world. Bats, by using
echolocation rather than sight, are able to navigate in even the darkest locations. How a bat "sees"
objects in its own mind is something that humans could not even begin to fathom. Humans cannot
know what it is like to have wings, catch insects, hang upside down, and use bat sonar to navigate.
We can try to imagine what it is like for us to be bats, but the question is what it is like for a bat to
be a bat. Imagination can only go so far, since it is based from our own experiences. No one except a
bat can know what it is like to be a bat (307).
Nagel provides another example. A man that is deaf and blind from birth cannot experience the
world in the same way as a man who is not deaf nor blind. They have different perceptions of the
world and therefore, are not able to access the subjective views of the other (308).
Despite his argument, Nagel does not claim that physicalism is false. Rather, he writes that we could
not begin to understand it because we cannot visualize how it would be true. Physicalism claims that
mental states are physical states of the brain, but Nagel says that the word "are" is deceiving (310).
He relates this to an analogy of a caterpillar in a closed box. When the box is opened weeks later, a
butterfly

The Definition Of Consciousness
A person is whatever one wants them to be, they can have any features one wants them to have. Of
course, everyone is going to have his or her own definition and classification of who a person is. A
definition of who is a person is going to be different for everyone; however, a person is someone or
something that has consciousness and understanding, they do not even necessarily have to be
humans. Someone or something that possesses consciousness and understanding hold traits of a
person not just a human. The definition of a person does not have to be right or wrong; however,
there should be an understanding that a person does have consciousness and understanding.
A factual definition of consciousness; Consciousness is "2: the state of being characterized by
sensation, emotion, volition, and thought: 3: the totality of conscious states of an individual."(Pp. 1).
One is able to physically feel, understand emotion, is a willing individual, and are ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The definition of a person does not have to be right or wrong; however, there should be an
understanding that a person does have consciousness and understanding. Sensations, emotion,
thoughts and will are important because these traits make a person and keep them alive.
Understanding is important because the person is able to use their conscious trait to act in a situation
or environment. If someone or something depicts the characteristics and traits they are considerably
a person although even if one may consider their pet as a person, animals are separate from humans.
A person is important because they keep the characteristics and traits in accordance with the facts.
Since consciousness and understanding make who a person is, if those characteristics and traits did
not exist neither would anything else, nothing would have a purpose. Consciousness and
understanding are part of a person and is what keeps them

Emmanuel Kant, Anthropology from the Pragmatic Point of...
Emmanuel Kant, Anthropology from the pragmatic point of view (1798) This text is an extract from
the Antropologie from the pragmatic point of view of Kant is about the importance of the power of
saying « I » for the human subject. Indeed, for Kant, this force "raises Man on top of all other living
beings". This power is the founding of the superiority and of the dignity of Man, it is thanks to
consciousness that Man becomes a moral being, in other words a being able to think himself and
thus to wonder about the nature and the value of his acts. In the first part, from "Que l'Homme" [that
Man] (line 1) to "sur la terre" [on earth] (line 2), Kant formulates his thesis while in the second part,
from "il est par la" [it is by that] (line ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In other words, a unity, which is beyond any possible experiment.
We could then establish the fact that this human unity, which distinguishes itself from animals and
other living beings, results from self–consciousness. According to Kant, how does Man distinguish
himself from the animal? Quite simply by "son rang et sa dignite" [his rank and his dignity]. Man is
different from animal and from the "chose" [thing] by his self–consciousness. He knows when he
makes good and bad acts, he is conscious of his acts in general. Indeed Man cannot live like the
animal and satisfy only his vital needs, nor can he live like the thing which does not have any need,
Man lives by satisfying his needs and more than his vital needs. Certain needs can appear
superfluous like Art, but Hegel in his Esthétique work show that Art is vital for Man's well being.
Moreover Kant said that music was "the language of emotions". Man needs to give a reason to his
existence as by reflexion or the application moral values which come from reason like being
solitary. These moral values are notably found in the Old Testament as in Leviticus 19:18 "loves
your neighbour as yourself".
Kant then says that even if the "je" is not pronounced, the individual can think. We could notably
refer to the cave men who indicated their opinion and their engagement with gestures and signs even
if they did not pronounce words having a syntax.
The author is then pointing out that all languages, in

Argument Against Higher Order Theories Of Consciousness
Dretske 's quick argument against higher–order theories of consciousness Students Name
Institutional Affiliation Date Dretske 's quick argument against higher–order theories of
consciousness Higher–order theories of consciousness directly state that thoughts, perceptions, and
beliefs follow the first mental orders that that connect to personal consciousness. Mostly, the
perception of something such as visible images represents the initial thought of phenomenal
consciousness. The higher order of theories of consciousness seeks to elaborate the distinct
characteristics of consciousness between the consciousness of a particular state of a question and a
representation of a higher order thought and believe of the same subject state (Carruthers, 2016).
The phenomenal consciousness consists distinctive characteristics that are challenging to explain in
the higher orders theories. The subjective components include properties are challenging since the
subjective aspects involve feelings and personal process to undergo through their mind. According
to the higher order theory of consciousness, the mental feeling, thoughts, and perception people
have in life consciously occur but not always since people sometimes sense things subliminally
hence independent in people consciousness. In the past, philosophers differ in support of the higher–
order theory of consciousness since there are issues that arise in clarifying the difference–conscious
mental state and those that

It Is The Greatest Mystery Of All
"How can a three–pound mass of jelly that you can hold in your palm imagine angels, contemplate
the meaning of infinity, and even question its own place in the cosmos? Especially awe inspiring is
the fact that any single brain, including yours, is made up of atoms that were forged in the hearts of
countless, far–flung stars billions of years ago. These particles drifted for eons and light–years until
gravity and change brought them together here, now. These atoms now form a conglomerate– your
brain– that can not only ponder the very stars that gave it birth but can also think about its own
ability to think and wonder about its own ability to wonder. With the arrival of humans, it has been
said, the universe has suddenly become conscious of itself. This, truly, it the greatest mystery of all."
–VS Ramachandran
After the first unit and research paper, the classmates of PSYV 358 learned all about what
consciousness is: how it is defined, different theories of why it exists, its benefits. I specifically
learned that consciousness could ultimately be defined as the state or quality of awareness. It is
often described as an evolved property, one that as far as we are able to define, is unique to humans
at the level of self–consciousness. Going back to Chalmers, and the neuroscientific problems of
consciousness, it could be said that answering 'where is consciousness?' would fall under the
category of the hard problem. Restated from the last research paper, the hard problem is

Self-Awareness In Locke's 'On Identity And Diversity'
Self–awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual
separate from the environment and other individuals.
In philosophy
An early philosophical discussion of self–awareness is that of John Locke. Locke was apparently
influenced by René Descartes ' statement normally translated 'I think, therefore I am ' . In chapter
XXVII "On Identity and Diversity" of Locke 's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding he
conceptualized consciousness as the repeated self–identification of oneself, through which moral
responsibility could be attributed to the subject–and therefore punishment and guiltiness justified, as
critics such as Nietzsche would point out, affirming "...the psychology of conscience ... Show more
The 'Red Spot Technique' created and experimented by Gordon Gallup studies self–awareness in
animals . In this technique, a red odorless spot is placed on an anesthetized primate's forehead. The
spot is placed on the forehead so that it can only be seen through a mirror. Once the individual
awakens, independent movements toward the spot after seeing their reflection in a mirror are
observed. During the Red Spot Technique, after looking in the mirror, chimpanzees used their
fingers to touch the red dot that was on their forehead and even after touching the red dot they
would smell their fingertips. "Animals that can recognize themselves in mirrors can conceive of
themselves," says Gallup. This would mean that the chimpanzees would possess self–awareness.
Note that the chimpanzees have had experience with a mirror before the 'Red Spot Technique' was
performed. Having experience with a mirror before the technique was performed reflects the past,
independent movement while looking in the mirror would reflect the present, and touching the red
dot would reflect what others' are thinking which relates perfectly to Gallup's statement in the
beginning of this article. a mirror was presented with the reflective side facing the magpie being the
only interpretation of the bird seeing the marked spot they had on them. During one trial with a
mirror and a mark, three out of the five magpies showed a minimum of one example of self–directed

Animal Consciousness
According to Martin Schonfield in "Animal Consciousness: Paradigm Change in the Life Sciences"
"In the old analytic climate, claims that animals are sentient raised methodological and ideological
problems and seemed debatable at best."(Schonfield p. 1) Claims that animals were self–aware or
intelligent were regarded as unfounded. "The task of science in the past four centuries had been to
demythologize the past."(Schonfield p.1) Daniel C. Dennett in "Animal Consciousness: What
Matters and Why" states "that speculating about animal consciousness makes no sense." (Dennett
p.19) He wonders why we need to know about animal consciousness at all. I disagree with Dennett
and will explore the possibilities of animals actually experiencing ... Show more content on
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An internal mechanism is when the animal recognizes the threat and an external mechanism is when
it remembers to flee the situation to safety. "Consciousness is a fundamental biological adaptation.
In all mammals alertness and sensory consciousness are required for the goal–directed behaviors
that make species survival and reproduction possible." (Baars p.6) They have language to
communicate with each other. They use words, motions and binary strings, "They have a semantic
organization...; they convey social information...; and all languages refer to objects or events distant
in time or space." (Schonfeild p.3) Bees do a dance to communicate in their own dialect with each
other regarding food sources. They share culture. The macaques on Koshima islet in Asia learned
behaviors copied by others in the group. "There are socially transmitted differences in animal
behavior–and consequently animal cultures" and they reflect a will to order their houses for the
better." (Schonfeild p.4) It 's possible for animals to create culture and pass it down. Take the case of
the monkeys washing the sweet potatoes in the salt water because it tastes better. These animals are
consciously differentiating between salty and fresh water tastes. They are

The Mystery Of Consciousness And Consciousness Essay
Consciousness has been referred to as 'the hard problem', and still remains to be one of the baffling
conundrums of our generation. Even so, that the world's greatest mind could not possibly solve the
mystery of consciousness. Consciousness is the subjective perception of the self. Consciousness
allows us to feel happy, to solve problems, and to create memories.
Throughout the nineteenth century and beyond, however, consciousness has laid beyond the
confines of science. Rene Descartes , a French philosopher, laid down the foundation of science by
reflecting on what it meant to be conscious. Descartes was the one who introduced the idea of the
mind as separate from the body, otherwise known as Cartesian Dualism. Descartes several theories
sparked major controversy and discussion about consciousness. During the twentieth century,
consciousness was seen as a taboo, so usage of the word was 'banned'. Using the term
'consciousness' was forbidden because there was no precise way to describe it. Consciousness is
psychologically constructed because of its difficulty to be observed and measured which is why it
can easily be seen as a taboo. Now, consciousness is accepted and has begun to address some of the
most challenging questions of our time. Because consciousness is now well defined and at the
forefront of neuroscientific research , neuroscientists are now able to address daunting questions like
that of the "vegetative state".
The definition of consciousness is vital towards

The Dark : The Evolution Of General Rhetoric, By George A....
Posthuman Ekstasis, Panpsychic Being: A Speculative, General Reflexive Rhetoric of Autopoietic
Hooting Machines
In his 1992 essay "A Hoot in the Dark: The Evolution of General Rhetoric," George A. Kennedy
proposed a foundation of and for a "General Rhetoric" that encompasses the activity of all social,
communicative animals, a rhetoric as potential energy that exists prior to not only speech but to the
whole of communication. Twenty–five years later, writing in the same journal, Philosophy and
Rhetoric, and affiliated with the same institution, Pennsylvania State University, Henry Johnstone
identified rhetoric, as a philosophical activity, as one of the handful of activities that separate
humankind from the rest of the animal kingdom. Kennedy expanded the particular activities that fall
under the domain of Rhetoric to illustrate, in part, that rhetoric, far from being a superfluous, inexact
art to be discarded of by the rampant logical positivism and instrumentalism which is characteristic
of our era, is in fact integral to the very existence, survival, and indeed consciousness of not
humankind, but the whole of socio–sentient life. Johnstone, too, argues his point against the
devaluation of rhetoric as a discipline, even though his claim runs counter to that of Kennedy:
rhetoric, he says, "is the evocation and maintenance of the consciousness required for
communication," a property unique to human beings (21). It would be folly, according to Johnstone,
to attribute this

The Location And Formation Of Consciousness
The location and formation of consciousness is complex and widely disputed.
Wilbert's model of "Body", an entire organism, and "body", separates the brain from the body,
parallels well with William James' questions of "is it me and my body?" or "Is my body me?"
(Combs. 113). A common theme discussing the uncertainty of what, how, and where is the
consciousness pinpointed. Kak believes "Self–awareness is an emergent phenomenon which is
grounded in the self and the associations stored in the brain" (2). The Thomas theorem describes the
location and the emergence of consciousness philosophically, "If something is defined as real, it is
real in its consequences" (Walden. Lecture. 8/24/16). In Comb's sixth chapter, he touches on how
mind altering substances, chemicals effecting the brain, alter consciousness and mental state(s). He
also concludes that the brain impacts the physical body. The example of marijuana changing one's
"...sense of time, body perception, and the senses" shows how the mind, brain, body and even self
are all interconnected (52). The questions of where consciousness is located and emerges and what
are, if any, the limits of consciousness in these respects are still high disputed and unresolved in my
opinion. According to Wilbur's terms, location and formation of consciousness vary and depend of
the context on the situation. When both the left and right hand knowledge is considered, the more
context you can describe, the clearer and more valuable the

Theory of Consciousness
My own theory of consciousness is a state of awareness of self. It has been said that this awareness
stems from arousal. Consciousness, to me, is entirely internal. We experience the external world, but
only through our senses. Dehaene and Naccache (2001) explain that neuroscience is beginning to
investigate and understand the "neural underpinnings of consciousness." Thus, consciousness is
something that we experience via our own bodies. However, there is an implied separation between
experience and consciousness. Animals and plants also have mechanisms for interacting with the
world, but they do not appear to have the same neural underpinnings that them to interpret the world
with the same awareness that humans have. We, however, not only experience the external world,
but we are aware of that experience.
This awareness is sometimes said to arise out of arousal some stimulation that causes us to register
the experience both in the present and record it for memories. It seems to me that some of this
awareness is involuntary. I become aware of the wind whistling outside of the window because it
arouses my senses, but there are sounds in the background that did not receive that arousal;
nevertheless, I heard them and if pushed and prompted to recall them later I may well be able to do
just that.
Consciousness is also impermanent, in more than one way. Internally–focused consciousness drifts
constantly, so that we are aware of different things inside of our

Why Does Consciousness Exist
On page nine in the Blackmore article, it is stated that, "On the one hand, if consciousness is an
extra added ingredient then we naturally want to ask why we have it. We want to ask what
consciousness is for, what it does, and how we got it. On this view, it is easy to imagine that we
might have evolved without it, and so we want to know why consciousness evolved, what
advantages it gave us, and whether it evolved in other creatures too. On this view, the hard problem
is indeed hard; and the task ahead is to answer these difficult questions." At what level of evolution
did consciousness develop? Assuming that we consider ourselves, humans, to be conscious, then
what other organisms are conscious as well? We may consider the species mostly similar to ours as
being conscious because we base our idea of consciousness on ourselves. To paraphrase another idea
from the text, we cannot know what consciousness is like for other animals, such as a bat, because
we are not bats and it would be impossible to accurately put ourselves in the perspective of being a
bat. We may consider any animal or organism that has a hierarchical structure to their society or
signs of emotions to have a consciousness because they would then have to be aware of their
surroundings and how they interact with other members of their species. However, there is no
understanding of what constitutes a culture ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Chimpanzees, close relatives to ours, have a developed social and familial structure. They may be
conscious

Analysis Of John Locke And The Problem Of Personal Identity
Fatima Binyamin
500700419
Professor David Checkland
PHL 201 – Problems in Philosophy
John Locke and the Problem of Personal Identity
Personal identity, in a philosophical point of view, is the problem of explaining what makes a person
numerically the same over a period of time, despite the change in qualities. The major questions
answered by Locke were questions concerning the nature of identity, persons, and immorality
(Jacobsen, 2016). This essay will discuss the three themes John Locke presents in his argument
regarding personal identity, which are, the concept of categories, substance vs. man vs. person, and
the continuity of consciousness.
Categories
Locke argues that we cannot compare something until we have an idea of what category the thing
being discussed will the placed under. He elaborates on this notion and argues that asking whether
something is the same or not is very blunt and open. When asking a question about sameness, one
could ask, "Is Professor Checkland the same person as he was five years ago?" instead of "Is
Professor Checkland the same as five years ago?" The latter question is not acceptable, according to
Locke, because there is no category under which Professor Checkland is being judged upon. The
former, however, implies that Professor Checkland is being judged on the basis of whether he is the
same person as he was five years prior.
Identity of substance, man, and persons The categories substance, man, and person all have different
requirements

Personal Statement : Personal Identity
Personal identity is a valued sense of oneself as it sets us apart from any other one individual. Time
transpires, yet we are capable of identifying who we are because of the personal identity we manage
to sustain. Personal identity is a significant and strong factor that allows us to lead our everyday
lives, separating us from everyone else in the present, past, and future. Individuals day in and day
out are subject to rapid change internally and externally and coming across obstacles that can appear
to alter personal identity, so the question that arises is "Does the identity of a person persist through
time?" Yes, the identity of a person does persist through time. I believe this to be true, as identity is a
strong and intricate collection of many unbeknownst factors surpassing the feebleness of other
forces throughout the course of time. The topic of discussion is personal identity: who we are or
what we define ourselves to be, allowing for a distinguishing factor between our personal identity
and other personal identities. Personal identity is subject to varying definitions and perspectives all
while asking questions like: What establishes a personal identity, what factors entail a personal
identity, how is personal identity created, is personal identity capable of being replicated etc.
However, one particular manner in which personal identity becomes a subject of disagreement is
whether the identity of a person is able to persist through time? Two philosophers, John

John Locke's Separation Of Personal Identity
Locke's argument for the identity of person (spiritual) and the identity of man (material) is not
sufficient. However, the distinction Locke made is based on its ontological thinking and does have a
practical significance. In my opinion, the problem of identity is not only an extension of ontology,
but also have a practical significance based on the issue arose by the separation of identity, that it is
unreasonable to talk about identity without any one of the two (spiritual or material).
Locke argues that the identity of people does not equal the identity of man, that with the soul alone,
it is not possible to form the same person. To take further step of this argument, Locke provides the
example of the the Prince and the Cobbler. Adding the Prince's soul into the Cobbler's body, and
therefore the Cobbler's body is now having the the Prince's soul, and further more that the Cobbler's
body is now having the Prince's personal identity. However, people will not regard the Cobbler as
the Prince, for that people are inseparable from the body. Therefore, in such circumstances, Locke
believes that people should conclude from this example that the body should be the one to determine
whether one is the same person (Locke, 517–518).
In this example, Locke wants to establish concepts of the soul (or more ... Show more content on
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On the one hand, personal identity is the identity of body organization (the identity of man). On the
other hand, the personal identity is determined by consciousness/soul (the identity of person). The
combination of the two makes a whole personal identity. Moreover, to conclude from the Prince and
the Cobbler's example, Locke pays more attention to the identity of the body. Whereas under the
guidance of this concept, it is not difficult to understand the reason Locke has separated the identity
of person from the identity of man, that these two belong to two different entities: the material and
the

Virginia Woolf Animal Consciousness
The ongoing #metoo movement has prompted me to once again contemplate some deeper thoughts I
once had about the female nature, specifically the female mind. All humans, male and female, to
varying degrees have the combination of both male and female mind. The male mind is mostly
exclusively found in men while the female mind is mostly exclusively found in women but everyone
has elements of both, some more–so possess and express the opposite than others but everyone
harbors them. As simplified above the female mind is the feminine mind; the animal mind. If we are
to consider animal behavior, eating, sleeping, drinking, sex, raising children, and working
(equivalence of foraging or hunting) would quickly be the words used to describe animal ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Even when an immoral act is committed with some element of consciousness, one would see how
much more of an impact it tends to have. Hence why men's behavior sometimes seem more
animalistic because it has more force, impact, and visibility. And it has more force, impact, and
visibility precisely because it has an element of consciousness in it. That is, it is not entirely
animal/unconscious. Since men have some consciousness then they are able to be immoral. The
feminine mind, by contrast, is amoral. It is neither moral nor immoral because it is not conscious.
Immorality is higher than amorality since it has some element of consciousness. If the behavior were
fully conscious, then it would be fully moral. Therefore, because of women's amorality women are
able to commit evil acts with impunity. Backed by gynocentrism and you could easily see how
animalistic and base women's inveterate behavior can be. Consequence means nothing to a person
who feels they are always in a just position to act

Margaret F. Washburn : An American Psychologist Whose Work...
Margaret F. Washburn
Born on July 25th, 1871 in New York, NY, Margaret Floy Washburn is known as an American
psychologist whose work for Vassar College made it a nationally renowned institution in
undergraduate studies (Abhinav, 2012).
Education
Beginning college at the age of sixteen, with primary studies in philosophy and science, Washburn
quickly became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at Vassar College (Abhinav, 2012).
She pursued graduate studies with James McKeen Cattell, an establisher of a new laboratory of
psychology at Columbia University. Women were not then allowed entry into graduate school at
Columbia, however Washburn was permitted to register as a class observer. After a year spent at
Columbia, Washburn took Cattell 's advice and applied to work with Edward B. Titchener at the
Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University, where she would be able to attain her degree
(Rodkey, 2010). Titchener, a former student of Wilhelm Wundt, wished to expand on Wundt's ideas
into what is known as structuralism, the focus of study being on the structure of the mind. Titchener
believed that the method of introspection could be used on thoughts alone, not just physical
sensations. Structuralism was a dominant force in the early days of psychology, but it eventually
died down in the early 1900s, as structuralists were conflicted amongst themselves over which key
elements of experience were most important (Gurung, 2011). Washburn was in charge of all research
and

Is Dualism Best? The Nature Of Consciousness? Essay
Student ID Number: 00180694
November 2rd, 2016
Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy
Professor Bayne
Dualism Best Explains the Nature of Consciousness The three theories we have discussed so far are
the dualism theory of Plato and Descartes, the Aristotelian theory, and the Physicalism (identity)
theory of Place and Strong. The identity of consciousness means that if you have the same
consciousness, you are the same person, and if not conscience, you are not the same person. The
thing that remains constant throughout all states of consciousness is that it is physically the same
human being. For example, the drunk person and the sober person are the same human being, but
may not be the same person. We are the same human being throughout our lives but we are not the
same person, so our consciousness changes as we grow. The Aristotelian theory and the Physicalism
theory of Place and Armstrong make strong points about the nature of consciousness, but Plato and
Descartes' theory of Dualism offers the best explanation of the natural state of consciousness.
Aristotelian Theory Aristotle questions if the body and soul are both independent things. He claims
that if affections of the soul can be separated, then the soul and body are separable. He stresses that
we should think of the soul as being similar to the body. Aristotle believes that not any soul can be
matched with any body. For example, an animal's soul cannot go in a human body because they
have different

Double Consciousness In Toni Morrison's Beloved
W.E.B. DuBois defines double–consciousness as not only looking at one's self through their own
eyes but also through the eyes of others. This is an interesting way of looking at life because it
applies to all cases. While one lives life, there will always be that thought of what the other person is
thinking about one's self. This is also the case for Sethe in the novel Beloved written by Toni
Morrison because Sethe's action can be interpreted in many ways depending on the perspective.
Sethe killed Beloved so Beloved didn't have to endure slavery, worries and takes close care of
Denver, and goes to work on a plantation as the wife of Halle. With that being said, for each of that
description there is a different description from someone else's eyes; to everyone else who read the
news like Stamp Paid and Paul D, Sethe was wrong for killing Beloved she acted like an animal, and
with that while she was seen as a wife, she was also seen as an animal, by school teacher taking
notes of her actions ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Sethe was a slave at Sweet Home and when Mr. Garner wasn't there Schoolteacher took over.
Sethe's identity at Sweet Home was a wife, a mother and a slave. "Halle and me want to be married,
Mrs. Garner.''So I heard.' She smiled. 'He talked to Mr. Garner about it. Are you already
expecting?''No, ma'am.' 'Well, you will be."(Beloved) This is how Sethe saw herself through her
own eyes, the important events of having a child and getting married. Dubois' concept comes in
where Sethe is looking at herself through different lenses, Schoolteacher. "He was talking to his
pupils and I heard him say, "Which one are you doing?" And one of the boys said, 'Sethe'... 'No, no.
That's not the way. I told you to put her human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the
right"(Beloved). In Schoolteacher's perspective, Sethe was an animal, an amusement to white
readers, in which he would write a novel

Absence of Evidence, or Evidence of Absence; A paper on...
Absence of Evidence, or Evidence of Absence? A paper on Animal Consciousness
     Consciousness is a difficult term to grasp; so much so, that
many scientists will not even attempt to define the term, much less search for it's evidence. Most
however, do agree that consciousness must include certain aspects; specifically cognition, self–
awareness, memory, and abstract thought.      Lesley J. Rogers
describes consciousness as, "related to awareness, intelligence, and complex cognition, as well as
language. Consciousness may be manifested in self–awareness, awareness of others, intentional
behavior, including intentional communication, deception of others, and in the ... Show more
     In Dr. Pepperberg's book, The Alex Studies, she taught the
parrot to be able to recognize different objects by color, shape, and material. He was even able to
eventually distinguish between concepts such as "bigger," "smaller," "same," "different," "over," and
"under." When asked to identify objects, Alex correctly identified, on first try, 80% of all objects
presented in over 200 tests (45). He was also able to correctly pair different labels together to fit a
certain object; for example color and material. After only two years of training, Alex was able to
communicate with contextual and conceptual use of human speech. He could identify, request, and
refuse a set of objects for play or food (50). Dr. Pepperberg also took precautions to ensure that she
had not allowed for any "cues" to tip off Alex to a correct answer, as in the case of "Clever Hans."
     These animals also demonstrated memory, another of the
aspects of consciousness. Many behaviorists believe that animals act only on instinct, or on
conditioned responses to stimuli. Others, like Lesley J. Rogers, believe that memories actually play
an important part in an animal's behavior. "The uniqueness of an individual is not simply encoded in
the enormous diversity of our genetic code (our inheritance) but is established by our unique

Rhetorical Analysis
Daniel Bor, a psychological researcher, and author, wrote an article titled "When Do We Become
Truly Conscious" published on September 4, 2012 and in this article he discusses the idea of
consciousness. Through use of deductive reasoning Bor refers to early opinions viewing
consciousness as magic and discusses the science behind demystifying consciousness. Bor also
discusses the ethical arguments behind learning for about consciousness. Bor also lists some of the
emotional arguments centered on human awareness. Bor's use of rhetorical strategies is designed to
state his opinion in a simple and easily read way. Bor opens his work stating that "It is easy to view
consciousness as a kind of magic" (Bor) and continues to comment on how religion ... Show more
Bor uses the factual evidence that "every person on the planet, on average, consumes twice his or
her weight in animal–derived food each year" (Bor) to set the stage form this controversial topic that
hangs on the question of consciousness. Bor once again makes the audience read the entire section
on animal rights before revealing his stance on the issue; Bor claims to be a vegetarian which shows
the reader that he believes animals experience consciousness to the point where they should not be
consumed as a food source. He presents the question how many animals actually have the brain
regions required for consciousness? Bor then answers that most mammals have developed these
structures and saying that this is "suggesting strongly that they too have some significant levels of
consciousness" (Bor). He then references several animals how have been observed to use tools and
"demonstrate a mental life that many would classify as conscious" (Bor) such as a crow or an
octopus. Bor refers to several test done to various species to determine their self–consciousness and
metacognition. The self–awareness test revealed "chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, dolphins,
elephants, and pigs" (Bor) to have some degree of self–awareness while the metacognition test
revealed that "great apes and monkeys" (Bor) show metacognition. Bor uses these results to support
his ideals that "ethically consistent for us to extend

Relationship Between Science And Religion
In the pages I studied for my third and final presentation, I learned about The Quest for
Consciousness. This is most interesting to me because, our conscious state as human beings is what
sets us apart from others. We know that we are here on Earth, that we are human, and that there are
things outside of this Earth much larger and different than we have imagined. The study of
consciousness brings an interesting twist into the relationship between science and religion. Humans
standalone from all other creatures because we are conscious, this indicates to some people that
there has to be a higher power. When studying the evolution of humans, we find that we are so much
more advanced than any other known creature on the planet. This article attempts to explain the
relationship between science and religion and the few unexplained things in the universe that prove
there must be a higher power.
First, it must be understood that there are three mysterious states of creation that are fundamental
but not understood. The creation of something out nothing, from this the universe appeared. Life
created from inorganic dead matter. Also unexplained is the development of consciousness and
conscious beings. These beings, which can reflect upon themselves were created out of organic
matter. This is known as the human psyche. These three things do not have a scientific explanation.
This is where an interpretation of science and religion like integration would make the most sense. I
think

David Rosenthal’S Hot (High Order Thought) Theory Of...
David Rosenthal's HOT (high order thought) theory of consciousness claims that a state is conscious
when one has a certain kind of thought, a high order thought, about it. What it means for a thought
being "higher order" is that it is a thought about a mental state. A thought about something that is not
a mental state, for example, a thought that there is a dog on the sofa, is a first order thought. But
thinking about the fact that you are thinking about a dog on the sofa is a higher order thought, or a
second order thought. HOT theory seeks to explain state consciousness in terms of transitive
consciousness. According to HOT theory, the only way we are conscious of our own mental states is
if we can think about them; in other words, if we ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Even further, in the case of animals there are many concepts that they simply will not be able to
learn. For example, the dog is unlikely to ever be able to learn the concept of an MP3 or grasp the
concept of what Wednesdays are. This objection continues by saying that, in order to have higher
order thoughts, one must have a concept of mental states. However, it is implausible that either
babies or nonhuman animals grasp such a concept.
This objection says that the HOT theory imposes concept possession requirements on babies and
non–human animals that can't be satisfied, even though many babies and nonhumans clearly have
conscious states. The HOT theorist has two general ways to respond to the objection. The first way
is to argue that babies and non–humans can satisfy the conceptual requirements on having higher
order thoughts. The second way is to argue is by presenting reasons for thinking that babies and
nonhumans don't actually have any conscious states.
The second version of the "too intellectual" objection, which focuses on adults. One line of evidence
for the claim that we have very few colour concepts concerns the fact that we cannot remember fine
differences in colour. For example, if you were looking at two very similar shades of blue and were
shown a third sample a short time later, you would have a very difficult time remembering which of
the first two

Do Animals Possess Consciousness Research Paper
Do animals possess consciousness? Are animals programmed to be slaves to nature or do they
possess consciousness: the ability to be aware of one's surroundings? While we don't know what
animals think or say, we can speculate on their brain activity and behavior in nature. As Darwin has
said, "We differ from our closest relatives in degree, not kind." We may not be as different from the
animal kingdom as we have thought. Alex, an African grey parrot, was subject to a scientific study
for thirty years. Scientists criticized this experiment, since Alex had a "birdbrain," which was the
size of a walnut. The popular test subjects were chimpanzees, whom were thought to be more
intelligent. However, Alex surely proved the scientists wrong; he had knowledge of around one
hundred English words, and skills to distinguish colors and sizes. Not only that, Alex had made up a
word for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For example, dolphins have talent in echolocation: the reflection of sounds to locate things. They
also have the potential to imitate their instructors. While it may seem like a simple skill, imitation
requires the dolphins to retain a mental image of their instructor, and then copy the movements with
their own bodies. Two dolphins, Akeakamai and Phoenix, without training improvised a trick of
circling underwater to spinning clockwise in the air in perfect synch. Dolphins are clever mammals
and are heavily implied to have consciousness. As Herman states," There are many things they could
do that people have always doubted about animals. For example, they correctly interpreted, on the
very first occasion, gestured instructions given by a person displayed on TV." Another underwater
creature that shows signs of consciousness is the octopus. They can block their dens with rocks as
well as entertain themselves by shooting water at targets. Roland Anderson comments, "They may
even express basic emotions by changing

Ned Block On The Philosophical Topic Of Consciousness
Throughout the interview with Block, he stated that there are two kinds of consciousness, the access,
and phenomenal consciousness. The interview straightforwardly begins, with Ned Block on the
philosophical topic of consciousness by the interviewees David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton,
where Block introduced the readers with one of those topics. In the beginning of the first two to
three pages of the interview, Block claims that "the problem of whether conscious perception is rich
or sparse" (77–78). Basically, he claims that conscious perception would either provide or limit
individuals with awareness. One would either have full access of their consciousness or are limited
to certain things that bypass them.
Ned Block claims that people are not as conscious as they ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
One of the examples that I found to be interesting, that relate to access consciousness, which was
discovered in psychology, state that people can miss obvious items in the space that are right in front
of their faces. The experiment is as follows; people will count how many passes between the white–
shirted members of a basketball team and ignore the black–shirted members. Furthermore, the
passers will be moving fast in between the basketball team, which will be a demanding task to
process. Some might say that it's easy, but here's the catch, will they observe an individual wearing a
gorilla suit walking across a basketball court. Well, a very high percentage out of a same one state
that they did not notice a man wearing a gorilla suit

Essay about Mind/Body Problem in Philosophy
Running head: MIND/BODY PROBLEM IN PHILOSOPHY
Mind/Body Problem in Philosophy
Barbara Buchanan
University of Phoenix
Mind/Body Problem in Philosophy The History of Psychology plays a big role in the interest of
Psychology and Philosophy today. Several theories have been developed and refined over the
hundreds of years of history in Philosophy and Psychology. Included in this report will be the
discussion of the realm of the mind and consciousness, the mind and consciousness in relation to the
physical body, and the independence of physical functions of the body through the central nervous
system.
The Realm of Mind and Consciousness It was believed at one time that the mind was a product of
the brain. The mind is a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Descartes believed that nerves were hollow tubes in animal spirits and were the driving forces that
resulted in the movement of muscles in the human body. If one were to stick their hand on a sharp
object, the mind would trigger the animal spirits to perform. The muscles and nerves in the body
were triggered by stimulation that caused the brain to open up and allow the spirits to move through
the nerves involuntarily. Thus the mind is what triggered the animal spirits to perform. Of course,
after Descartes, the microscope was discovered and used to determine that indeed the "tubes" were
not hollow and were indeed controlled by the brain. Our mind receives information and processes
same. There is only one area of our brain that when the body dies, the brain dies with it. Where there
is no thought there is no mind. It is proven that the mind controls by the body. The mind is
dependant on the Nervous system. An example would be the eye. In looking an object, the eye itself,
the nerves and the light are all physical parts of seeing the object. However, seeing the actual object
is subject to consciousness. Our mind must be conscious of the object in our view. If the eye is
closed, the object is no longer visible. Therefore, the mind is dependent of the Central Nervous
System. The Independent Mind Calmness, peace of mind, freedom from anxiety and worry, inner
strength and happiness are

Being A Mental State Of Awareness
Conscious is thought to be a mental state in which we are able to process information and act on it.
However this term is used to describe a state of awareness while awake whereas there seems to be
varying levels of consciousness that describe most mental states. If information can be perceived
(knowing or unknowingly) then it is likely that you are conscious, e.g. even when in light sleep we
can dream and may even wake up on hearing a loud noise, therefore the brain still processes
information, however in deep sleep this is not the case. When looking at consciousness, there is
what Levine described as the explanatory gap (Levine, 1983). This states that in the present moment
we are not able to provide an explanation for the phenomena that is consciousness however as time
goes on and our knowledge of neuroscience increases this gap will close gradually until it is non–
existent (Block & Young, 1996). However despite this statement being made by Levine around 30
years ago, the explanatory gap still remains although it is clearly beginning to close, we still have
some way to go before we can begin to understand what consciousness is. Consciousness is
inherently a subjective matter as there are many different meanings for the word which are
seemingly thrown around without much thought, there is no way to prove that one normal
experience of consciousness is the same as another (qualia) and we are unable to scientifically
explain conscious experiences. Therefore before we can

John Locke's Person Identity
Identify is needed to determine existence. How to you determine the existence of an object
according to John Locke it must be compared in a state via a determine place and time, to itself at a
separate place and time (Locke 367L). An object cannot exist at the same time in two separate
places. For example, a 20 ounce bottle of coke at a gas station in Kentucky and another 20 ounce
bottle of coke in an airport in Denver do not share the same identity. This is because while they may
share every single trait, the fact that they exist in separate places at the same time makes them
separate objects that do not share the same identity. From this brief understanding of identity Locke
creates his theory of personal identity. Locke first makes the important distinction between non–
living objects and living objects. The identity of a non–living object, a bundle of atoms, changes, "if
one of these atoms is taken away, or one new one added, it is no longer the same mass or the same
body." (Locke 368R). In Locke's theory the moment the atoms change even in the slightest bit with
one atom being lost or added the bundle of atoms are no longer the same bundle that existed before
the addition/subtraction of atoms. For example, if a stick of chalk made a line on a blackboard for
every time one atom of chalk left stick to form the line a completely new stick of chalk would exist.
This concept of constant changing identity with the slightest modification does not extend to living

Identific Intelligence : The Evolution Of Artificial...
In both the real world and Westworld, the debate about artificial intelligence is based around the
idea of consciousness. Most people agree that the reason that humans are superior beings is due to
the ability to possess consciousness. Although there are other animals that also show signs of
consciousness, none are as complex as that of a human. That is what differentiates us from other
animals, but in order to discuss machine rights, we must first define the true meaning of
consciousness and how it developed through human evolution. According to Robert Ford in Season
1 Episode 8 Trace Decay, "there is no threshold that makes us greater than the sum of our parts...we
can't define consciousness because consciousness does not exist". With this acknowledgment, he is
basically stating that there is no difference between the minds of the hosts and the humans.
According to DiCarlo, consciousness co–evolved with the development of language. The "co–
evolution of language and consciousness provided our ancestors with the newly developed – though
gradually acquired – sense of mental abstraction wherein they could now see themselves in relation
to the world"(DiCarlo). Since the development of consciousness occurred gradually in humans, it
can be safe to assume the same can transpire with artificial intelligence.
With that in mind, there should definitely be a fail safe in place for the protection of our humanity.
Especially since, unlike humans, A.I. is not limited to the slow progress

Bertrand Russell on Analytical Philsophy Essay example
"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to
end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it"
– Bertrand Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism.
Bertrand Russell was born in 1872 in Wales, England as a member of a famous British family. He
received a degree from Trinity Cambridge College with honors in Mathematics and Moral Sciences.
His most famous works included the subjects of logic and philosophy, which were deeply rooted in
his mathematics background. In fact, Russell is probably the most highly regarded and most read
English–speaking philosopher of our time. Russell was not merely an intellectual, but also a political
and social activist, writing many ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Analysis of the Mind written in 1921 show the connections between Russell's views on the
nature of the mind and how matter is altered in relation to it. Russell's key themes seem to be that of
physical vs. psychological. In fact, Russell expands on the ideas that there is in fact no difference
between the two and the only key difference is the perception given by the person trying to
distinguish between the two. Russell sees the difference between physics and psychology only in the
laws that bind them, or so he states in the opening while it seems this theory will be altered
throughout his books.
Consciousness is logically fundamental. Without it, how can there be anything observed or even
thought about? We need consciousness to experience anything, including but not limited to, "
sensations and images, memories, beliefs, and desires" . Consciousness is, in essence, the most
important aspect of the mental state, but Russell does not agree, and says so in the following
passage; " `Sensation, in the strict sense of the term, demands the existence of consciousness.' This
statement, at first sight, is one to which we feel inclined to assent, but I believe we are mistaken if
we do so." Russell actually holds to the idea that while consciousness is important, it is not
necessary. Russell states that he believes we are not always aware of things that happen, and
therefore consciousness is

Augustine's Doubts About The Consciousness Of Human
Consciousness refers to the relationship and interactions between our mind and its surrounding
environments. Consciousness fades when the normal patterns of waking neural activity in the brain
are replaced by the patterns characteristic of sleep, or when the tissues of the brain are damaged
physically or by intoxicants. We do not have a set explanation has to how brain activity produces
consciousness. It is concluded that consciousness is an elemental component of the universe that
cannot be discussed or analyzed any further by the human race. Doubts about the consciousness of
animals occasionally surfaced even in classical antiquity. Augustine argued that nothing can be
perceived without reason, which is needed to judge and classify sensations,

Consciousness Is The Subjective Perception Of The Self Essay
Consciousness has been referred to as ''the hard problem'' and still remains to be one of the most
baffling conundrums of our generation. Consciousness is the subjective perception of the self.
Consciousness allows us to feel happy, to solve problems, and to create memories.
Consciousness has historically laid beyond the confines of science. Rene Descartes, a French
philosopher, laid down the foundation of the study of consciousness by reflecting on what it meant
to be conscious. Descartes was the one who introduced the idea of the mind as separate from the
body, otherwise known as Cartesian Dualism. Descartes' several theories sparked major controversy
and discussion about consciousness. During the twentieth century, consciousness was seen as a
taboo because usage of the word became overused and there was no precise way to describe it, so
the word was 'banned'. Consciousness is a psychological construct because of its difficulty to be
observed and measured, which is why it can easily be seen as a taboo. Consciousness has gradually
became easier to define, and because it is now accepted in the world of science, it has begun to
address some of the most challenging questions of our time.
Since consciousness is now at the forefront of neuroscientific research , neuroscientists are able to
address daunting questions like that of vegetative patients and whether they are conscious, how to
diagnose these patients, and whether or not there are therapeutic interventions available,

I Am The Inventor Of A Special New Robot
I am the inventor of a special new robot. My robot is able to survive and learn on its own, even
when I am not there to help it. In fact, it responds to my questions just like a person and even says
that it loves me and misses me when I am gone. The government has passed a law that outlaws
robots like mine. They claim that such robots have no minds – they are just machines and they will
all be destroyed. I disagree with this statement because of two reasons: The function of machines,
and the functions of minds. Argument 1 Machines are "an apparatus using or applying mechanical
power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular
task". In this aspect, the only difference in humans and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Through this, Searle argues that if a human and machine receive the same input and then respond by
the same output, how are they any different from one another? When given the same purpose,
humans and machines have the same response, therefore machines may have a mind. Gilbert Ryle
created The computational theory of mind that claims "Computers behave in seemingly rational
ways; their inner program causes them to behave in this way and therefore mental states are just like
computational states". He continues on by saying that "If logic can be used to command, and these
commands can be coded into logic, then these commands can be coded in terms of 1s and 0s,
therefore giving modern computers logic. Through this, how is one to tell if robots don't have minds
if they use logic just like humans do. When the purpose of humans and machines are the same, they
may process differently in order to complete that purpose, although they may have the same output.
Because humans and machines receive the same input and return the same output, they both have
minds in addition to functions and processes in order to do that. Argument 2 The mind is defined as
"the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think,
and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought". Minds in general give humans the ability

Consciousness Is The Way Beings Have Their Own Personal...
Consciousness is the way beings have their own personal experiences in their minds. In other words,
how they experience every day situations in their own personal view or perspective. Ned Block
(1995) explains that "phenomenal consciousness is experience; what makes a state phenomenally
conscious is that there is something 'it is like' to be in that state." Susan Blackmore (2012) said that
consciousness was subjective; meaning consciousness is personal and cannot be shared with anyone
else. Study and research on consciousness has advanced and increased in the past years. The
Laboratory of Nuero Imaging states that humans have at least 70,000 thoughts racing through their
heads on a normal day. These thoughts make up a part of our consciousness; our ongoing dose of
qualia, or private internal experiences. It is obvious that humans have consciousness, but do other
organisms share this capability? One experiment compared the cognitive ability of humans and great
apes at the early stages of their development. Mammals, like apes and monkeys, do have
consciousness based on anecdotal evidence, research, and experiments.
Every animal is distinct and diverse, but some share similar traits. Their brain sizes and capacities
differ based on their species. Monkeys and apes are primates that share comparable qualities.
Primates are mammals, and mammals are, according to Liana Vitali and Lucie Muir (2005), "warm–
blooded vertebrates which nurse their young on milk produced by the

John Locke Is Wrong And Identity Of Humans
Just what is a person? What makes a person, a person? Are humans just made of atoms and
molecules just like what the scientists say? Or are humans something else, a soul perhaps? This has
been debated for centuries by great philosophers, and one of them is John Locke. His idea of
identity of a human is that humans are conscious beings thus their identity involve consciousness.
However, Thomas Reid believes that Locke is wrong and identity of humans are transitive. But
Locke's
To John Locke, identity of a person is their conscious; not substance or soul. However, what is a
substance or a soul? Materialists believe that humans are nothing more than animals that think, thus
substance can change and the animal or the person can also stay the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
A simple example of this is: The person is the same person as someone in the past if the person has
the consciousness of the experience that the someone in the past did. Thus, the identity of a person is
limited to how much the conscious of later person remembers their earlier conscious memories.
Only then he is truly the same person or himself. But then this bring few questions: Can there be a
the same thinking substance in different people or different thinking substance in the same person
and how do we punish people? To answer the first question he believes that the issue lies whether a
immaterial being with consciousness could have its consciousness of its past actions be completely
removed then begin a life with new consciousness. Nonetheless if it was possible then Locke argues
that there is no reason to say that the person who's soul and conscious lived before the removal is the
same person whose new consciousness took over. To answer the second part, Locke says that the
answer depends on whether the conscious of the past actions can be transferred to another person
who did not experience it. Locke believes this phenomenon is possible and if it was, would this
person be the same person he was before? Yes. Using Locke's theory where

Critique on Thomas Nagel's What it is like to be a bat?...
Critique on Thomas Nagel's What it is like to be a bat?
The 'mind–body' problem has troubled philosophers for centuries. This is because no human being
has been able to sufficiently explain how the mind actually works and how this mind relates to the
body – most importantly to the brain. If this were not true then there would not be such heated
debates on the subject. No one objects to the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun because it
is empirical fact. However, there is no current explanation on the mind that can be accepted as fact.
In 'What is it like to be a bat?', Thomas Nagel does not attempt to solve this 'problem'. Instead, he
attempts to reject the reductionist views with his argument on subjectivity. He ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
But we cannot presuppose this because of the mere fact that we DO NOT know what it is like to be
a bat and therefore we do not know if a bat is a conscious being. I am not negating the fact that bats
and other animals may have experiences and that these experiences are the results of being
conscious animals. I am just saying that this has not yet been proven factually and it therefore
cannot be used as a presupposition towards an argument. We can only infer that other animals have
conscious experience through our own perceptions. We can then make comparisons from our own
conscious experiences using these perceptions but this is not sufficient to support an argument.
Nagel then proceeds with his argument by demonstrating why we cannot know ?what it is like to be
a bat?. A human has an imagination and could therefore imagine what it would be like to have the
characteristics of a bat. However, a human cannot imagine what it is like for a bat to be a bat. Nagel
supports this by saying, ?if I try to imagine this, I am restricted to the resources of my own mind,
and those resources are inadequate to the task.? (p.536). I agree with Nader on this point. In order
for me to experience what it would be like to be a bat I would have to make the actual
transformation to a bat and there is no way for me to do that. The only other possible way for this to
occur would be by a proper explanation about the mind of a bat but this too

Relationship Between The Mind And The Brain
When philosophically analyzing the relationship between the mind and the brain, one must take into
consideration all sides of the argument. The mind–body problem exemplifies how mental states are
related to physical states assuming that the mind is a non–physical entity while the human body is
strictly physical. What is the relationship between the mind and the brain and how is this used to
explain all human thoughts, behaviors, and actions? A physicalist, such as David Armstrong, would
claim that the consciousness is the same as physical brain; they both experience the same events. In
response a dualist, such as Thomas Nagel, could argue that the mental and the physical, the mind
and the body, are two completely separate things. In this ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Nagel asserts that an organism has particular conscious mental states that are only associated with
characteristics of said organism. Nagel claims that consciousness cannot be explained without
experience, and experience cannot be explained by a reductionist being. Along with the reductionist
view, the physicalist view cannot explain consciousness. Physicalism is the belief that everything is
physical, suggesting each mental state or conscious experience has a physical property associated
with it. Nagel contradicts this theory with his idea that every subjective experience is connected with
a single point of view and that having any objective experience is impossible. What is it Like to Be a
Bat? includes the example of bats to show the distinction between subjective and objective
experiences. Bats are mammals and are therefore special and have subjective conscious experiences.
Nagel further illustrates this theory by discussing echolocation, a biological sonar that bats use to
guide them. Humans do not have the ability to subjectively imagine the perspective of a bat; they
can only do so objectively. Even if an individual were to transform into a bat during their lifetime,
said individual would never be able to experience the same consciousness as a bat because of the
inherent way human brains are wired since birth. Nagel states that his "point is rather that even to
form a conception of what it is like to be a

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