Tutorial #18. Philosophy of Mind: The Mind-Body Problem. "What is it like to be a bat?". Discussion Questions

In light of the readings you have done, especially Nagel (1974), try to think about the following questions:

• What is it about the mind that makes it difficult to study from a scientific perspective?
• How is the mind related to the body\physical world? Can we solve this problem (i.e. the mind-body problem)?
• How could the sciences (e.g. neurosciences, psychology, anthropology, etc) help us understand the mind?
• Is it possible a coherent and complete mapping between types of mental states and types of brain states? That is, would it be possible to identify a law underlying the mind-brain relationship?
• Is consciousness the mark of the mental?
• What does “What it is like to be X” mean?
• Nagel claims: “the fact that an organism has conscious experience at all means, basically, that there is something it is like to be that organism”. Make examples of organisms without consciousness. Is it possible to conceive an individual identical to you, but without consciousness?
• Can we understand what it is like to be a bat? Do you find Nagel’s argument convincing?
• Can you explain to someone what it is like to taste Nutella?
• Consider such features of scientific method as publicity and objectivity. Is consciousness intrinsically private and subjective? Can it be studied scientifically?
• If consciousness is not reducible to physics (i.e. cannot be explained in physical terms), would it follow that physicalism (i.e. the thesis that everything is physical) is false? Or rather, that consciousness doesn’t exist (since physicalism is true)?