Philosophy Final Help

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lolwut?

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I figured there might be some CAGs who take (or have previously taken) philosophy, and I have a final on Monday I need to prepare for. Normally I'd be all good by myself but the notes I take from the class are usually what the teacher writes on the board, and he barely writes on the board. Enough talking, here are what the three questions are going to be:

If materialism is ultimately real, how do we account for the mental?

If idealism is ultimately real, how do we account for matter?

If both mind + matter are real, how do they interact?

Thanks for the help CAG's :cool:
 
I'll take a stab since I don't want to study for my own finals at the moment. Keep in mind that I'm an Engineering major and that I've only taken one course that can be associated with philosophy, Theory of Knowledge. Knowing that, here I go:

The BIG thing I noticed that all these questions is that they start with the word "If," meaning that your answer can either agree or disagree with the initial statement that the question is asking. Due to this fact, the answer becomes very opinionated in nature, as their is no clear cut fact that can define the concept that you are discussing (I suppose that's the beauty with Philosophy in general).

If I were you, unless I totally and absolutely agree with the statement at hand, I would disagree with it as not to be confined to the process of enabling the claim. By refuting the initial statement, it gives you more room to express your own ideas while utilizing the known arguments that have been presented by others to either actualize you're own claim (it tends to be a good idea to mention the other side of the argument as to define where exactly the weakness of it is) or refute proposed ones. Another plus of this is that it shows the professor that you're trying to come up with your own explanation for these ideas and not just regurgitating what you have been taught in class.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'll actually take a stab at answering these questions a little later in the weekend to give you an outside opinion to hone your own. Keep some of the stuff in mind that I mentioned while formulating your own opinions. Hope this helps for now.
 
The if is not offering an option to disagree, it's merely proposing it as a hypothetical and not asserting its truth in the real world.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']The if is not offering an option to disagree, it's merely proposing it as a hypothetical and not asserting its truth in the real world.[/quote]

This. I mean, if I had a really great argument for why the proposed idea wasn't true, I don't think he could really say anything, but he's asking in terms of if each idea was actually true, that's why there's a question for idealism, materialism and dualism.

I'd just use the 7 or so philosophers we've learned about in the last 3rd of class to support the questions IF my notes didn't suck ass :lol:
 
[quote name='lolwut?']I figured there might be some CAGs who take (or have previously taken) philosophy, and I have a final on Monday I need to prepare for. Normally I'd be all good by myself but the notes I take from the class are usually what the teacher writes on the board, and he barely writes on the board. Enough talking, here are what the three questions are going to be:

If materialism is ultimately real, how do we account for the mental[/QUOTE]

To answer these questions, one must ask the question: "What is 'real'?" Reality is defined by the mind. Therefore, the mind defines what materialism is. Materialism is defined (at least by me) as the acquisition of things or services that person desires, regardless of whether is it a necessity (food, shelter, transportation) or a luxury (gourmet meals, a mansion, a Rolls Royce).


If idealism is ultimately real, how do we account for matter?
Click to expand...
Again, reality is ultimately determined by what the human mind perceives. Since the human mind is capable of higher abstract cognitive devices such as idealism or morality, perception of the concept of matter, of substances that occupy a physical space, of things that can be tangibly interfaced with, is a far easier thing to do. Matter, that is, things of a physical nature, unlike abstractions, can be perceived more readily via the mind's natural senses. Matter can be seen. Matter can be touched. Matter can be smelled, tasted and heard. In comparison, since abstractions are, by their very nature, intangible, the only things that can be sensed are the results of the abstractions' influence. We 'see' the consequences of performing an idealistic action but we cannot 'see' idealism itself.

If both mind + matter are real, how do they interact?

Thanks for the help CAG's :cool:
Click to expand...

The mind defines matter. What the human mind perceives to be real is real. Cogito, ergo sum. "I think, therefore I am."

I think your teacher is a fan of Descartes (from the questions) so it would behoove you to study up on him and dualism.
 
[quote name='lolwut?']I figured there might be some CAGs who take (or have previously taken) philosophy, and I have a final on Monday I need to prepare for. Normally I'd be all good by myself but the notes I take from the class are usually what the teacher writes on the board, and he barely writes on the board. Enough talking, here are what the three questions are going to be:

If materialism is ultimately real, how do we account for the mental?

If idealism is ultimately real, how do we account for matter?

If both mind + matter are real, how do they interact?

Thanks for the help CAG's :cool:[/quote]


I wish i could help I got an A in philosophy when i took it but i was good at bsing awensers not to mention he gave us the questions to awnser at home but on the day of the test he only chose 5 or 6 out of 8 or 9 of them and we had our choice of 3.


alot of philosophy depends on you as the person. reality is going to be diff to each person so if hes asking you from your point of view then yes materialism exists but its more of a way of being or living than a real thing. the mental i guess can be accounted for because many things in life start out as thoughts or ideas that someone has and over time thought becomes form through diff means. ideas create things but you can also give ideas to people which though intangible they can use. i guess that makes sense i dunno.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']I think your teacher is a fan of Descartes (from the questions) so it would behoove you to study up on him and dualism.[/quote]

Not really. We covered him the the 2nd part of the class, but only for a few days. Our professor did say he was relevant to this exam though.

The philsophers we studied in the 3rd and final part of class were:


  • Hume (Materialist)
  • Kant (Idealist)
  • Hegel (Idealist)
  • Mill (Materialist?)
  • Kiergegaard
  • Marx (Materialist)
  • Nietzsche (Materialist)
  • Husserl (Idealist)
  • Sarte (Materialist)
  • Wittgenstein (Materialist)
This is Intro to Philosophy, and we spent about a day on each of these guys.
 
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[quote name='Short Round']Is this a 100 level course?

If so, your professor is a dick.[/quote]

Yeah. I think it's PHIL112?
 
[quote name='lolwut?']I figured there might be some CAGs who take (or have previously taken) philosophy, and I have a final on Monday I need to prepare for. Normally I'd be all good by myself but the notes I take from the class are usually what the teacher writes on the board, and he barely writes on the board. Enough talking, here are what the three questions are going to be:

If materialism is ultimately real, how do we account for the mental?

If idealism is ultimately real, how do we account for matter?

If both mind + matter are real, how do they interact?

Thanks for the help CAG's :cool:[/quote]

-The activities/interactions of chemicals and materials of the brain give rise to our experience/perception.

-I don't know much about idealism.

-I am not sure what paradigm you are coming from on the last question. If its materialism, then they would not really "interact" because they are one in the same. The mind is merely the result of function of an organ (the brain), so the mind would be inseparable from the body just as the process of stomach acid breaking down of food would inseparable from the stomach itself.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']To answer these questions, one must ask the question: "What is 'real'?" Reality is defined by the mind. Therefore, the mind defines what materialism is. Materialism is defined (at least by me) as the acquisition of things or services that person desires, regardless of whether is it a necessity (food, shelter, transportation) or a luxury (gourmet meals, a mansion, a Rolls Royce).


Again, reality is ultimately determined by what the human mind perceives. Since the human mind is capable of higher abstract cognitive devices such as idealism or morality, perception of the concept of matter, of substances that occupy a physical space, of things that can be tangibly interfaced with, is a far easier thing to do. Matter, that is, things of a physical nature, unlike abstractions, can be perceived more readily via the mind's natural senses. Matter can be seen. Matter can be touched. Matter can be smelled, tasted and heard. In comparison, since abstractions are, by their very nature, intangible, the only things that can be sensed are the results of the abstractions' influence. We 'see' the consequences of performing an idealistic action but we cannot 'see' idealism itself.



The mind defines matter. What the human mind perceives to be real is real. Cogito, ergo sum. "I think, therefore I am."

I think your teacher is a fan of Descartes (from the questions) so it would behoove you to study up on him and dualism.[/quote]

No offense to the poster above, but...Don't listen to his advice at all. He really has no idea what he is talking about.

I tried to answer your question but the kind of vague and are not framed at all. So if you have any questions just PM me. I am not a Philosophy genius but I have taken 4 or 5 classes, and my girlfriend has a Philosophy degree.
 
[quote name='gareman']No offense to the poster above, but...Don't listen to his advice at all. He really has no idea what he is talking about.

I tried to answer your question but the kind of vague and are not framed at all. So if you have any questions just PM me. I am not a Philosophy genius but I have taken 4 or 5 classes, and my girlfriend has a Philosophy degree.[/quote]

Right, because philosophy has 'right' answers. :applause:
 
[quote name='jaykrue']Right, because philosophy has 'right' answers. :applause:[/quote]


No their are no "right" answers when it comes to your personal philosophy, but there are right definitions to terms and phrases. For example, materialism has nothing to do with what you posted. Materialism at its fundamental core is the belief that our mind, or experiences/feelings can all be boiled down to material and natural brain functions. There is no "ghost in the machine" so to speak, or mood/feelings/ideas are the product of chemical production and interaction.
 
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