Personal Identity
What does Locke say makes you the same person over time?
Being able to remember your past self.
What is determinism?
The position that free will does not exist because all actions have causal antecedents.
What are the three conditions of knowledge in the tripartite theory?
S believes p
p is true
S is justified in believing p
What does Clifford say a person ought to do if he has no time to investigate a matter?
Withhold his belief.
Hume says that the self is really a bundle of perceptions. What does this mean?
At any given time, one's 'self' cannot be perceived. Instead, all we find is whatever we are currently thinking, feeling and sensing.
What does it mean for Schopenhauer to say that we cannot will what we will (paraphrasing!)?
He means that we can freely act on our will, but we can't choose what it is that we will.
The Gettier problem says that the tripartite theory of knowledge is inadequate because...
There are cases of justified, true belief that we wouldn't call knowledge.
What are the three characteristics of a genuine option for James?
Hypotheses are live, decision is forced, and belief is momentous
How does Michaels use impending torture to show that you are, at least partly, your body?
If you fear the torture even though your memories will have been erased and replaced with Ronald Reagan's, this shows that you intuitively identify with your body and not just your brain or memories - you think the torture is going to happen to you.
He says that we really can go either way, regardless of whether there are reasons for our choice, and that it really were unfree, then the determinist should be able to predict our choices before we make them.
Why does Descartes decide to doubt everything?
So that he can work out what he knows with absolute certainty.
Give en example in which faith in a fact can help create the fact, according to James.
e.g. studying for a test, believing in a future career path, believing someone likes you
How does Locke think that the law ought to handle people who commit crimes they can't remember?
He says they are not truly guilty because they are a different person, but as a matter of practicality, the courts have to punish the man and not the person.
What is 'free will worth wanting', according to Dennett?
Name one thing Descartes is still convinced is real even though he might be dreaming.
Colours, geometry, extension (3-dimensionality), maths.
We transmit them through generations, making others more susceptible to false beliefs and degrading humanity's character as believers.
According to Hume, what role does memory play in creating personal identity?
It contributes to the illusion of personal identity because memories make us falsely infer that our current self and former self are identical because they resemble one another.
Are we like a Sphex wasp, according to Dennett?
No, we are able to weigh up reasons for doing one action or another and decide what to do. Our behaviour from the outside might look like the wasp, but the determinist is wrong to suggest that we are similarly stuck in a pattern of mindless behaviour.
What are 'clear and distinct ideas', according to Descartes?
Anything that can be understood clearly and completely, and without comparison to other ideas. e.g. that I exist, what God is, numbers.
Outline Pascal's Wager.
If you believe in God and it turns out he exists, you get infinite reward (heaven).
If you don't believe and it turns out he exists, you get infinite punishment (hell).
If you believe and it turns out he doesn't exist, you gain/lose nothing.
If you don't believe and it turns out he doesn't exist, you gain/lose nothing.
So wager everything that God exists.