Posted: May 12th, 2015

METAPHYSICS: FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS

Essay Questions

Word Count: 2000

Reference Style: Harvard or Footnote (Oxford)

Choose and answer one of the following questions. If there is another question you’d like to explore but still relevant to a topic covered in weeks 7-13, please consult with the subject coordinator before beginning:

• Dualism, despite being an intuitively appealing theory about the relationship between the body and the mind, has faced serious objections. After outlining what those objections are, do you think there is a way of defending dualism in a time dominated by scientific materialism?

• The postulated existence of qualia, or the what-it’s-likeness of consciousness, is often invoked against any theory of mind that would reduce the mind to the brain or some physical system. Present a case for whether or not you think a materialist position can account for the subjective feeling of consciousness.

• Non-reductive materialism is a popular, if not orthodox position, in the contemporary debate over the metaphysics of mind thanks in large part to the argument for the multiply realisability of mental states. Do you think that this argument is successful, or do you think it fails to stop mental reduction?

• Eliminative materialism is a controversial position that claims that certain aspects of our theory about our minds will be eliminated like previous failed theories in the history of science. Assess the plausibility of such a position.