Philosophy (pick one question and answer)

1. Heathcliff says, “Medieval peasants knew a lot about pain but nothing about C-fiber excitation. So, how can pain be identical with C-fiber excitation?”
Catherine says, “Heathcliff, your objection is an epistemological point. Unfortunately, this kind of objection does not undermine the identity theory.”
Explain the conversation between Heathcliff and Catherine and discuss your position of this issue critically.

2. Isabella says, “To say that the mind is correlated with brain processes is to say that they are something over and above. But the mind-body correlation is compatible with many theories of mind, so the mind-body correlation does not provide us with an explanation of the very nature of mind and body and their relation.”
Explain Isabella’s statement with your understanding of Smart’s Identity theory and Occam’s razor, and discuss your position of this issue critically.

3. Ophelia says, “We have pain so do dogs, octopuses, and even ET.”
How do you interpret Ophelia’s claim? Discuss this sentence with your explanation of multiple realizability thesis and functionalism (i.e., pain as a functional role).

4. Edgar asks, “Could instantiating a program, the right program of course, by itself be a sufficient condition of understanding?”
Allen answers, “No. Because the formal symbol manipulations by themselves don’t have any understanding.”
Explain the conversation between Edgar and Allen with your understanding of Searle’s Chinese Room Argument and discuss your position of this issue critically.

5. Cordelia argues, “Are qualia or sensations publicly observable? If they are not something objective, could we regard these new facts as facts which are supposed to be objective?”
Critically evaluate Cordelia’s account with your understanding of Jackson’s thesis.