NAME: OWINO NIVAH A.

ADMISSION NUMBER: AB02/PU/41336/19

UNIT NAME: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

UNIT CODE: APH B309

SCHOOL: HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT: PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES

LECTURER'S NAME: MR. REUBEN MUSASIA

TASK: EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT TO

THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE.
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 5TH DECEMBER, 2022

Question 1

a). What is Philosophy of Mind?

Philosophy of Mind is a branch of philosophy that studies ontology and the nature of the mind
and its relationship with the physical body. It can also be regarded as an attempt to analyse other
related concepts to the nature of the mind. Philosophy of mind is usually considered as a part of
metaphysics. The central issue of this branch is the mind-body problem. It intersects to some
extent with other fields of neurobiology, computer science and psychology.

b). How is philosophy of Mind related to other branches of philosophy?

Humans are corporeal beings and, are subject to examination and description by the natural
sciences. Since mental processes are intimately related to bodily processes the descriptions that
the natural sciences furnish of human beings play an important role in the philosophy of mind.
There are many scientific disciplines that study processes related to the mental. The list of such
sciences includes: biology, computer science, cognitive science, cybernetics, linguistics,
medicine, pharmacology, and psychology.

The direct study of mental states is the focus of the scientific discipline known as psychology. To
explore concrete mental states like happiness, terror, or obsessions, it employs empirical
methods, for the most part. Psychology is the study of the laws that connect mental states to one
another, as well as the inputs and outputs of the human organism, and how these laws can be
investigated. One area of study that illustrates this is the psychology of perception. The
researchers that are working in this topic have uncovered some broad principles about the way
forms are seen. Objects that appear to be moving in the same direction are more likely to be
viewed as being connected to one another, according to a law derived from the psychology of
forms. This law explains a relation between the visual input and the mental states that are being
perceived. On the other hand, it does not imply anything at all about the nature of the states of
perception. The laws that have been uncovered through psychological research are consistent
with all of the solutions to the mind–body dilemma that have already been outlined.

The study of the mind and the activities that occur within it is called cognitive science. This
research investigates what cognition is, what it is capable of doing, and how it operates. It
includes research on intelligence and behavior, particularly focusing on how information is
represented, processed, and transformed (in faculties such as perception, language, memory,
reasoning, and emotion) within nervous systems (human or other animals' or machines'), whether
those nervous systems belong to humans or other animals (e.g. computers). The term "cognitive
science" refers to an interdisciplinary field of study that draws from a variety of research fields,
such as psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, neurology, linguistics, anthropology,
sociology, and education.It encompasses a wide range of levels of analysis, including low-level
learning and decision mechanisms, high-level reasoning and planning, neural circuitry, and
modular brain organization, to name a few. A representational and information processing
approach to explaining the mind has given way over the years to an embodied perspective in
cognitive research. This shift occurred as a result of the accumulation of experience. As a
consequence of this, the processes that occur within the body play a crucial part in the process of
acquiring, developing, and molding cognitive skills.

The discipline of computer science focuses on the use of machines like computers to carry out
the automatic processing of information (or at the very least, the study of physical systems of
symbols that are used to assign information). Computer programmers have, from the very
beginning, been able to create programs that allow computers to carry out tasks for which
organic beings require a mind. These programs have allowed computers to perform things that
were previously only possible for organic beings. The subject of whether or not machines like
computers or robots might have feelings (also known as qualia) is yet unanswered. Some
computer scientists are of the opinion that the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is still capable of
making novel contributions to the solution of the so-called "mind-body problem." They suggest
that based on the reciprocal influences that take place between software and hardware in all
computers, it is possible that someday theories can be discovered that help us to understand the
reciprocal influences that take place between the human mind and the brain. These theories could
be discovered because of the reciprocal influences that take place in all computers (wetware).

The materialist worldview underpins the theoretical foundation of biology, as it does all of the
modern natural sciences in general. The focus of this research is on the underlying physical
processes that are thought to underpin all mental and behavioral activity. In the first place, the
processes of the body are being investigated. The rising effectiveness of biology in the
explanation of mental phenomena can be demonstrated by the absence of any empirical criticism
of its essential presupposition, which claims that "there can be no change in the mental states of a
person without a change in brain states."

The study of fundamental topics pertaining to mental or psychological processes is known as

philosophy of mind. The question that many people believe to be the most fundamental of all is a
metaphysical one. It is commonly referred to as the "mind-body problem," and it focuses on the
connection that exists between minds and material or physical occurrences.

Question 2

Explain the various ways in which man differs from the rest of nature.

Physically, humans and animals seem similar. Mentally, humans seem so superior. What's so
special about human nature? Language? Culture? Compare brain structures and functions of
humans and animals. Human brains have advantages, in complexity and capacity of association
for example, but are they sufficient to account for the vast superiority of human mentality?
Biologically humans are animals, as we share a few anatomical and physiological similarities
with animals. However, despite the similarities, enough evidence exists to separate man from
other animals. This essay shall explore the differences between man and the rest of nature.

Human beings live in the realm of nature, they are constantly surrounded by it and interact with
it. However, humans are capable of abstract knowledge and possess a rich language, reasoning
and complex problem-solving abilities, creativity and a capacity for innovation, reflective
learning, moral conscience, religion, funeral rites for the dead, behaviors that denote praise and
punishment, and specific forms of social life and cooperation in the development of cultures and
civilization.

To begin,the following are some of the physical traits that distinguishes man from the rest of
nature. Man is a flexible bipedal being with an erect and upright posture that frees his hands for
exploration, manipulation and exploitation purposes. Unlike man, most animal are quadrupedal
and have only got the ability to scratch, smell and bite but then man can handle objects. Man's
universally useable and flexible body enables him to be a manipulator, tool maker and an
inventor.

Man is a rational being and got the ability to reason upon certain things and are at times driven
by instincts, intellect and logic. Whereas animals cannot reason but are only driven by instincts.
Humans are the only living beings on earth who have the freedom to make decisions for
themselves. Animals do not enjoy such liberty. Man can think analytically. He can analyze
problems and come up with creative solutions. He is able to reason and philosophize about life.
The reasoning powers in animals are limited.

Man has got various ways of survival and sustainability because he has got the ability to turn any
kind of environment to their liking or to benefit themselves. Wherea animals are only dependant
on nature and they can either adapt to the environment or die. Therefore, animals have got no
any other means of survival because of the incapability to change the environment to their liking.

Beyond the physical traits, humans are highly social creatures who often live in complicated
social systems made up of several cooperating and competing groups, ranging from families and
kinship networks to political states. Man creates a monogamous relationship and provides
parental care, raising them in households where both parents teach them. Human interactions
have resulted in the development of a diversified collection of values, social conventions, and
rituals that underpin human society.

Man employs propositional language, he makes and carrys on with conversations for slightly
longer periods. Man can express himself to another because of he has a particular language to
speak in. Using the particular language, man can communicate a vast lot of cultural information.
On the other hand, animals can communicate to each other, but not with the use of particular
language as man. Animals lack the expressiveness of human language.
Man is an aesthetic being, capable of perceiving and appreciating beauty and intangible values.
Man decorates himself and his artefacts for the enjoyment they bring. When animals build
things, the process and resulting object serve a functional purpose. Animals do not create objects
for the purpose of appreciation.

Man is an ethical being with a moral consciousness.He can distinguish between right and wrong.
He can and does make moral judgments. Because of mans sense of justice and his ethical
orientation, God could fairly punish him for his willful disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

Man is a religious being. Only man can experience faith. Man alone of all earthly creation can
worship, pray and praise his Creator and even ask for forgiveness when he realises he's done
wrong guided by what is morally right. He alone can put his trust in the guidance and leadership
of God.

Man is the only living creature that buries its dead. There is no example of animals doing any
type of ceremonial burial as does animals die and decay for they have got not ability to have a
better send off like man.

Question 3

a) Identify difficulties associated with studying the mind.

Ignorance of mind studies

Psychology's various schools of thought

The problem of objectivity

History and origin of the mind.

b). Explain in details, each of the above difficulties.

Generally the study of the world has been valued to the extent of ignoring the study of the mind.
The study of man and the mind has received less attention and financial support recently due to
ignorance. In studying the one people have only become concerned about nature and technology
leaving out the study concerning man and his surroundings. This ignorance has led to lack of
sufficient knowledge about the mind that helps man act. Ignoring the study of mind has made it
very difficult to study the mind for there is limited references.

Another difficulty encountered while studying the mind is the various schools of thought that
psychology has come up with. The various schools of thought in psychology have got different
conflicting methods on studying the mind. The various psychological schools of thought include
structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The
mentioned schools of thought emphasizes on different aspect of man's mind and behavior. For
example, The functionalist school was interested in the purpose of thoughts and behaviors,
whereas structuralism was concerned with the elements that make up consciousness. Therefore
the contradictions that exists between the psychological schools makes the study of mind for it
not easy to chose which method to use when studying the mind.

Lack of clear information about the origin and history of the mind is another challenge. This
problem greatly lies on our definition of the mind and interpretation of the universe.If the mind is
interpreted as adaptive behaviour, the study may begin with some form of life. But when the
study begins to deal with complex organisms due to the increase in complexity, there is no
source stating the origin of the mind.Therefore there is little or absolutely no scholarly articles
have shown the origin and history of the mind making the study of mind difficult. A study only
becomes easy when information of the origin is clearly articulated, for to understand something
one has to know it roots and how it came to be, so without a clear history the study of mind
becomes a challenge. On the contrary the study of mind would be restricted to only if it is
interpreted as abstract thoughts.

Another issue is the problem of objectivity. Unlike physical features in the objective world, the
mind can never be studied be objectively verified. This is because the mind is private entity
whose activities cannot be easily observed. A question that is frequently asked is 'Can the same
mind be a subject and an object?' Man encounters a lot of challenges in trying to study the the
mind for knowing what is in other mind is not easy, for he can be sure of how to interpret the
result of his studies

c). Suggest ways of overcoming the above named difficulties .

Question 4

Using relevant examples, briefly explain the following notions.

a). Mind as the center personal identity

b). Mind as that which transcends

c). Mind as a private entity

d). Mind as a subject

MIND AS THE CENTER OF PERSONAL IDENTITY

Personal identity is a very controversial aspect of life. Who are we? What defines us? According
to John Locke, psychological continuity is what defines our personal identity.Mind is the entity
that thinks, imagines, senses, wills and memorizes. In case the mind is said to be a substance,
then it must a unique or a special one but if it is regarded as a substance, then it can be said to be
the center of personal identity. A substance can either be material or immaterial it does not
necessarily have to be material.
MIND AS THAT WHICH TRANSCENDS

Transcend means to go beyond. Man is a subjective individual in an objective world.Man

therefore has to create his existence in the objective world through experiences. The existence of
the mind is then determined by this experiences.The mind is said to be one that transcends
because it posses the ability to think into the future. One of deepest problem of human life is the
relation of the mind to the time process. Man has a dated existence (can die at any time) but still
thinks beyond the present to the future. Man has the ability to foresee, that is think into the future
by imagination, and shape the future by planning for it and also have his past in the mind
through memory. The mind therfore has the ability to go to the past and roam into the future
despite being in the present. Hence it is said to be that which transcends.

THE MIND AS PRIVATE

The mind is a not a characteristic of the body and therefore stands to be a private entity. The
privacy o the mind means that no mind can have direct experience of another mind. One can only
be able to describe which ever thing he/she thinks or experience and cannot completely tell what
is in another one's mind. The presence of the mind cannot be verified objectively as one can
verify the presence of a rock or a tree. One discovers no mind among his perception, since the
mind is not an object. The private nature of the mind has brought about challenges to
philosophers trying to study the mind making them claim that there exists no mind.

MIND AS A SUBJECT

Question 5

a). Identify five theories of mind

Mind as a non-material substance

Mind as the principle of organisation

Mind as a sum total of all experiences

Mind as a form of behavior

Instrumentalism

b). Discuss the above mentioned theories.

MIND AS A NON-MATERIAL SUBSTANCE

A substance is a particular kind of matter with uniform properties for instance"a steel tube coated
with a waxy substance". The mind can be interpreted as a non-material entity which is indivisible
and immortal. The key proponents of this view are Plato who is the chief advocate Descartes. In
the ancient times Plato's main interest was man and most especially the mind of man. Plato
divided man into three parts while trying to explain this theory. The parts include the rational
part, the sensory part and the desiring elements of man. According to Plato there is a clear-cut
distinction between the mind and the body. He says the body is a prison house of the spirit, a
detriment to perfection, a hindrance to wisdom and knowledge. The body is a source of endless
trouble to man. He felt that man could not become pure until death, when the soul will be
departed from the body and exist in herself alone. While the mind or soul contains the reasoning
element within man, and is the part of man which survives death.

Descartes is a substance dualist. For Descartes, here are two substances, mind and makes a clear
distinction between them. Mind is immaterial it is conscious, and it is characterized by thinking.
Since it is substance, it cannot be destroyed except by God, who is the only independent
substance. Matter is characterized; by extension. Man's body is a part of the world of matter and
is subject to its laws, Descartes explanation of the mind as a separate substance was the
beginning of a long development in modern philosophical and scientific thinking, sometimes
referred to as ‘bifurcation of nature’. The Cartesian dualism of mind and body (or matter)
enables us to interpret the external world in mechanical and quantitative terms- and to put all
other aspects of existence in the realm of mind. Separation of mind and matter is an attempt that
has been canvassed at length in all periods of history.

length in all periods of history

MIND AS THE PRINCIPLE OF ORGANISATION

Aristotle and Kant are the advocates of this theory of mind. Aristotle is Plato's students who did
buy his idea and formed a new directive. For Aristotle, forms exist, in things or in the world.
They are the shaping, organizing, and dynamic principles that give order and direction to matter.
For this theory, mind is the life principle, the sum of the processes of life, the active principle of
organization of these processes. Mind or reason is the highest capacity or function of the human
psyche, in this attempt to integrate mind and body. Aristotle moves away from Plato's position
and closes to the view of the mind as process and function. Therefore, for Aristotle the forms are
in things active principle of organization.

In trying to answer that question Kant was led to consider what minds must be like to be capable
of knowledge presented to it by the senses. Time and space are the forms of our sensible
experience which by means of judgement are brought into unified and organized experience.
Mind according to him is not a separate mental substance: it is the organization and unity of
man’s personal experience. According to Kant, all we know for certain is our experiences.The
organization of experience is made possible by reason and understanding acting as a principle of
organisation.
MIND AS A SUM TOTAL OF ALL EXPERIENCES

This is David Hume's theory of the mind. Hume was an empiricist and a great critic of the
traditional view that the mind as a separate substance. Due to this he attacked the dualism of
Plato and Descartes. In Hume’s opinion, mind is like the stage of a theatre on which thoughts
and ideas come in a procession. He held that all knowledge come through experiences and that
the sole content of human mind is impressions and ideas. Experiences and impressions
constantly change and are never permanent. There is no evidence of a permanent self.
Impressions are therefore lively and vivid. With Hume concludes that, mind is only a name for
the sum total of the experiences, ideas and desires that occupy one’s attention and life. It

MIND AS A FORM OF BEHAVIOR

This theory is credited to B. F Skinner. This is as psychology mind theory. Some psychologists
hold that the mind is one form of behavior. According to the certain kind of behaviour leads to
postulate the existence of the mind.Skinner is clearly opposed to mind as substance. He
recognized that there was a common tendency to explain behavior by reference to a non-
physical, inner agent called mind but he rejected this because it lacked the physical dimension.
This theory holds that every idea of a mental state or condition is the idea of a behavioural
deposition or a family of behaviorial tendencies, evident in how a person behaves in one
situation rather than another.

INSTRUMENTALISM

This theory of mind is credited to John Dewey for he is the chief representative of this position.
Instrumentalism is the view that propositional attitudes like beliefs are not actually concepts on
which we can base scientific investigations of mind and brain, but that acting as if other beings
have beliefs is a successful strategy.

Question 6

a) Define the Mind - Body problem

The mind–body problem is a philosophical debate concerning the relationship between thought
and consciousness in the human mind, and the brain as part of the physical body. The debate
goes beyond addressing the mere question of how mind and body function chemically and
physiologically.This problem was addressed by René Descartes in the 17th century. This
problem seeks to know the relationship that exists between the mind and the body and whether
they are independent entities or not.

b) Demonstrate how it is a problem.

The mind - body problem is a problem that has been around for a very long time. Actually it is
two problems. The item problem concerns the nature of mental items and also the question
"Does the mind rule the body, or does the body rule the mind?" The mind is about mental
processes, thought and consciousness. The body is about the physical aspects of the brain -
neurons and how the brain is structured. The reason this remains a problem today is because we
don't have scientific understanding of the mind and the body interact.

c) Identify and explain the various theories advanced to resolve this problem.

Theories that have been put forward to solve the mind-body problem include

Dualism

Monism

Dualism is the belief that the mind and body exist as distinct entities. René Descartes was the
first to articulate the mind-body issue in its current form. Dualism may be traced back to the
early Hindu philosophical traditions of Sankhya and Yoga. They all deny that the mind is the
same as the brain, and some even argue that it is not existentially separate from the brain. There
are four main types of dualism: substance dualism, property dualism, predicate dualism, and
epistemological dualism. Substance dualism also know as Cartesian dualism argues that the mind
is an independent substance. Property dualism is the idea that the mind and the body are different
properties of the same body. These property dualisms are classified into three major types:
interactionism, occasionalism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism. Predicate dualism is based on
the language used to describe phenomena. It states that descriptions of the world can’t be
reduced to physical formulas.René Descartes’ most well-known philosophical work is
Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). He describes the mind as thinking rather than an
extended object.Rene Descartes developed the view that mind and matter contain different kinds
of substance. The brain is a physical concept, the mind nonphysical, yet they are closely
correlated with each other (Descartes, 1968). Physical events can cause mental events and vice
versa. Dualism, nevertheless, fails to answer how physical and mental worlds can interact.
According to dualism, without mind in the brain activity, action would not be intentional.

Monism is the position that mind and body are not ontologically distinct kinds of entities. This
view was first advocated in Western Philosophy by Parmenides in the 5th Century, and
variations on it were and was later espoused by Baruch Spinoza in the 17th Century and George
Berkeley in the 18th Century. Monism in modern philosophy of mind can be divided into three
broad categories: Idealist, mentalistic monism, which holds that only mind or spirit exists.
Neutral monism, which holds that one sort of thing fundamentally exists, to which both the
mental and the physical can be reduced. Material monism (also called Physicalism and
materialism), which holds that the material world is primary, and consciousness arises through
the interaction with the material world.

Question 7
a). Define Parapsychology

Parapsychology is a discipline concerned with investigating events that cannot be accounted for
by natural law and knowledge that cannot have been obtained through the usual sensory abilities.
In other terms it can be said to be the study of strange mental abilities that seem to exist but
cannot be explained by accepted scientific theories.

b). Identify the two focal points of parapsychology

Parapsychology is divided into two main branches namely: Extra-sensory Perception (ESP) and
Psychokinesis (PK).

c). Using examples, explain the practicability of each the parapsychological entities.

Extra-sensory Perception is the study of communications ostensibly without the known sensory
organs but sensed in the mind. Many of us have this feeling that certain things happen by
coincidence. For example, we think of someone and we receive a phone call from that person
soon after. The ESP include (a). Telepathy is usually observed between people who are
connected to each other with affection or love. Sometimes close friends, close family members,
or married couples experience this unexplained communication without the use of their sensory
organs. There is an emotional component to this phenomenon. This kind of communication
includes physical symptoms as well that cannot be explained by scientific means.

(b). Clairvoyance or knowledge of the hidden object or events occurring outside the physical
reach of the person without any prior contact or knowledge of the same. Any person who is
claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant. For instance, a fortune teller practices
clairvoyance when she gazes into a crystal ball to see her client's future.

(c). Precognition or knowledge of the future events that cannot be predicted or inferred from the
available information. May occur to a person while awake or dreaming. For instance, one dreams
of fighting or of someone's death and it comes to pass.

Another branch is Psychokinesi, also called telekinesis, in parapsychology, is the action of mind
on matter, in which objects are supposedly caused to move or change as a result of mental
concentration upon them. In short it is the production of motion in objects (as by a spiritualistic
medium) without contact or other physical means. There is no good evidence that psychokinesis
is a real phenomenon, and the topic is generally regarded as pseudoscience.

Question 9

Discuss the significance of studying the philosophy of mind as a student.

To begin with, philosophy of mind a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind and
it's relationship with the physical body. The study of this branch of philosophy is vital to a
student in various ways as discussed below.
The study of this field helps a student have the knowledge in philosophy of mind and later find
the relationship that exists between this philosophy of mind and and other fields of study. For
instance the relationship between philosophy of mind and metaphysics, cognitive science,
psychology and ontology among others.

Studying philosophy of mind equips a student with the knowledge of the relationship between
the mind and the body, which can be known by understanding the mind-body problem that is a
central issue in this field. Understanding the mind-body problem helps one learn whether or not
the mind and the body exist as independent entities or not.

This study helps a student know about some of the theories that have been brought forth to
explain the nature of the mind. The theories helps a student to understand how different scholars
or philosopher understood the mind and what circumstances made them comes up with the
theories. Some of this theories include instrumentalism, Mind as a form of behaviour,mind as a
sum total of all experiences, mind as the principle of organisation and mind as a non-material
substance. With this knowledge of the theories a student can argue out with an ease.

Studying philosophy of mind helps a student find out that being that the mind can be studied
there are some of the difficulties associated with studying the mind. And thereafter find some of
the solutions to overcome the difficulties. By knowing the difficulties the student gets prepared
of the challenges that they may encounter when studying the mind in the future.

The study of this field helps a student that there are ways in which man differs from the rest of
nature either physically or socially despite the similarities. With this knowledge a student can
argue out why man is referred to as a superior being over other creatures.

Philosophy of mind helps a student know the notions that were held by early philosophers about
the mind and some of the driving forces that made them come up with such notions. The notions
include mind being a personal identity and mind as that which transcends.