1. Philosophy 4610 Philosophy of Mind Week 1: Introduction

2. Philosophy and the question  Since ancient times, philosophers (and ordinary people) have wondered about the nature of the human mind, what is responsible for our thoughts, ideas, dreams, desires, emotions and personal characteristics – in short, everything that makes us, us.

3. Ancient philosophy and the question of mind  Some ancient thinkers identified the mind (psyche) with the heart.  Others, such as Plato, thought that the psyche was a non-physical “essence” of a human being that survives even after the body dies – something like the soul as it is understood in Christianity.  Still others guessed that the mind might be identical with the brain – the 3-pound organ inside each of our heads.

4. Philosophy, Science, and the Mind  Modern science tells us that the human brain, though it weighs only 3 pounds, contains about 100 billion (=100,000,000,000) active neurons or brain cells.

5. Philosophy, Science, and the Mind  These brain cells are constantly communicating with each other electrically to determine how our brain receives signals from our sense organs and causes muscles to move all over our bodies.

6. Philosophy: Mind, Brain, and the human being  But is understanding the brain sufficient to explain everything about our thoughts, emotions, and consciousness?  Or is there “more to it” – some aspect or dimension of human beings that is essentially non-physical or non- material, and perhaps cannot be explained in scientific terms?

7. Philosophy of Mind: Minds and Machines  Contemporary cognitive science has also been deeply influenced by the analogy between minds and computers.  The human brain is often seen as an “information processing” system that takes in information from the senses and processes it to produce behavior.

8. Philosophy of Mind: Artificial Intelligence  Yet is it really possible for a machine (a computer or robot) to think and be conscious as we can? If it is not possible, what is the essential difference between computers and human minds? If it is possible, then would we have to admit that we ourselves are simply mere machines?

9. Philosophy of Mind: The Consciousness Problem  Human being seem to be different from almost everything else in the world in that we are conscious of ourselves and the world around us.  How can we explain this unique capacity? Is there a scientific explanation? A religious one?

10. Philosophy: The Matrix  MORPHEUS: The Matrix is everywhere, it's all around us, here even in this room. … It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

11. Philosophy: The Matrix  NEO: This isn’t real?  MORPHEUS: What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you're talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain.