Social Science

Philosophy of Mind

3,323 Questions

The philosophy of mind explores the nature of consciousness, perception, and the relationship between the physical body and the mental self. It covers key concepts from functionalism and phenomenology to Indian philosophical schools like Yoga and Vaisheshika. This topic is essential for candidates opting for philosophy in civil services examinations.

Phenomenology conceptsFunctionalism criticismsConsciousness and perceptionEmbodied self theoryIndian philosophy perspectivesZombie argument analysis

Philosophy of Mind Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements about perception is most directly derived from the passage?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage:

"I think therefore I am" the well-known quote of Rene Descartes, is the basis of his theory known as dualism. The intermingling of mind and body or res extensa (extended substance) and res cogitans (thinking substance) displays Descartes' ideas of a "genuine human being". Known as the father of modern philosophy, Descartes realised that one could not analyse a problem simply on the common sense level, but that one must "probe to the micro-level".

Through his technique of doubting everything, which he believed to exist and establishing a new philosophy, Descartes discovered that without a doubt, the only thing he could truly believe, to exist was his own mind. He then supposed that a demon was deceiving him by causing him to believe that which he saw. With this idea, he concluded, "all external things are merely the delusions of dreams"(Descartes' Meditations as cited in Cottingham 23) which the demon has devised. By being able to convince himself of ideas and by being able to be deceived by the demon, Descartes could assume that he existed. He also came to the conclusion that if he were to cease from thinking, he would cease to exist entirely.

"I regard the body as a machine so built and put together...that still, although it had no mind, it would not fail to move" (Descartes' Meditations as cited in Jones). Descartes' idea of the body being totally independent of the mind is known as the mechanistic view. Descartes explains this concept by offering the explanation that spirits enter the brain cavities, proceed to the nerves, and change the shapes of the muscles in order for movements of the body to take place. The mechanistic view compares the body to several different mechanical objects including clocks and fountains. However, Descartes found that the human body was in every way better built than any mechanism a human could devise (Shapin 158).

"There is a vast difference between the mind and the body, in that the body...is always divisible, while the mind is completely indivisible" (Descartes' Meditations as cited in Strathern 67). Although Descartes claimed that the mind and body were totally separate beings, he also found that they were closely intertwined. Descartes concluded that because a body part could be removed without taking away from the mind, the body was a separate being (Cottingham 36). The interdependence of the mind and body was what Descartes considered a human being; the mind and body formed a unit. Descartes found that because you sense things occurring to the body through the mind, then if the body and mind were not intertwined, one would not have any feelings in the body. These "feelings" in the body are what Descartes called "confused thoughts" (Cottingham 40) because they could not be explained through equations or logical connections. The confirmation for the idea that the mind and body were closely connected was the fact that one can never separate from his body, and can feel and sense things only through his own body.

Descartes' philosophy "transformed European thought" (Strathern 55) by causing people to gradually reject the Aristotelian views of the mind and body. Although later philosophers including Locke, Berkeley, and Hume rejected Descartes' ideas, other philosophers such as Regis and Malebranche expanded and improved upon Descartes' philosophy to form Cartesianism.

  1. The perceptions of a human being cannot be directed by his own self.

  2. Like most phenomena, there is a sense of dissociation in perception as well.

  3. Perception cannot just be only a somatic phenomenon but, it also has to be psychical in nature.

  4. How one perceives perception is also a function of the ongoing ideology.

  5. Perception is essentially misleading.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) is the right choice and it can be derived from: “Descartes discovered that without a doubt, the only thing he could truly believe, to exist was his own mind. He then supposed that a demon was deceiving him by causing him to believe that which he saw. With this idea, he concluded, all external things are merely the delusions of dreams.

Multiple choice

The author is most likely addressing which of the following audience?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage:

"I think therefore I am" the well-known quote of Rene Descartes, is the basis of his theory known as dualism. The intermingling of mind and body or res extensa (extended substance) and res cogitans (thinking substance) displays Descartes' ideas of a "genuine human being". Known as the father of modern philosophy, Descartes realised that one could not analyse a problem simply on the common sense level, but that one must "probe to the micro-level".

Through his technique of doubting everything, which he believed to exist and establishing a new philosophy, Descartes discovered that without a doubt, the only thing he could truly believe, to exist was his own mind. He then supposed that a demon was deceiving him by causing him to believe that which he saw. With this idea, he concluded, "all external things are merely the delusions of dreams"(Descartes' Meditations as cited in Cottingham 23) which the demon has devised. By being able to convince himself of ideas and by being able to be deceived by the demon, Descartes could assume that he existed. He also came to the conclusion that if he were to cease from thinking, he would cease to exist entirely.

"I regard the body as a machine so built and put together...that still, although it had no mind, it would not fail to move" (Descartes' Meditations as cited in Jones). Descartes' idea of the body being totally independent of the mind is known as the mechanistic view. Descartes explains this concept by offering the explanation that spirits enter the brain cavities, proceed to the nerves, and change the shapes of the muscles in order for movements of the body to take place. The mechanistic view compares the body to several different mechanical objects including clocks and fountains. However, Descartes found that the human body was in every way better built than any mechanism a human could devise (Shapin 158).

"There is a vast difference between the mind and the body, in that the body...is always divisible, while the mind is completely indivisible" (Descartes' Meditations as cited in Strathern 67). Although Descartes claimed that the mind and body were totally separate beings, he also found that they were closely intertwined. Descartes concluded that because a body part could be removed without taking away from the mind, the body was a separate being (Cottingham 36). The interdependence of the mind and body was what Descartes considered a human being; the mind and body formed a unit. Descartes found that because you sense things occurring to the body through the mind, then if the body and mind were not intertwined, one would not have any feelings in the body. These "feelings" in the body are what Descartes called "confused thoughts" (Cottingham 40) because they could not be explained through equations or logical connections. The confirmation for the idea that the mind and body were closely connected was the fact that one can never separate from his body, and can feel and sense things only through his own body.

Descartes' philosophy "transformed European thought" (Strathern 55) by causing people to gradually reject the Aristotelian views of the mind and body. Although later philosophers including Locke, Berkeley, and Hume rejected Descartes' ideas, other philosophers such as Regis and Malebranche expanded and improved upon Descartes' philosophy to form Cartesianism.

  1. A group of literary critics analysing Descartes’ theory

  2. A group of students doing an in-depth study on Descartes and his theories

  3. A group of students reviewing the chorological progression of European thought with a current lecture on Descartes

  4. A group of sophists dealing with Descartes’ theory

  5. A group studying the intricate nuances of modern philosophy

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

(2) is the right choice. There can be confusion between the (2) and (3) choices. While (3) can be tempting because it covers a wider range, but nothing in the passage suggests that it is a sub part of a series of lectures or a chronological sequence.

Multiple choice

Directions: Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.

I have found it helpful to make a distinction between essential consciousness or “awareness” and ________ consciousness.

  1. supplemental

  2. extended

  3. exacerbating

  4. exacting

  5. protracted

  6. perceived
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) This is correct as the author speaks of 'essential' consciousness. “Supplemental' consciousness provides the needed differentiation and 'extended' provides the similar word. (2) This is correct as the author speaks of 'essential' consciousness. “Extended' consciousness provides the relevant contrast and 'supplemental' provides the similar word. (3) This is incorrect as 'exacerbating' means 'aggravating', and the word does not fit in the sentence. (4) This is incorrect as 'exacting' would imply 'something difficult', which would not fit in the sentence. (5) This is incorrect simply because 'protracted' has a negative connotation, while 'extended' and 'stretched' do not. (6): This is incorrect simply because there is no matching word among the options.

Multiple choice
Psychology can have the following connection with magical realism except _________________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Magical realism provides the reader with a unique perspective of the world -we look on it with new eyes. The reader must go beyond reality to understand magical realism. Magical realism may be related to certain academic fields such as psychology because of the state of mind one must use to really know what is happening.

Magical realism can be characterized in many ways. Mainly, it depends on one's own opinion, but for me reading certain selections about it, one can get basically the same point of view from it. "Meticulous craftsmen all, one finds them In the same preoccupation with style and also the same transformation of the common and everyday into the awesome and unreal"(Flores 114). The "awesome and the unreal" are characteristics that usually represent what magical realism is. Many magical realists use it in their selections to give readers a brief idea about magical realism. It is not just the everyday word or meaning to life. It is an outlook on what life has to give one if he or she is willing to look further into it.

In the psychological field, Victor Frankl discusses something called "will-to-meaning." Frankl says that in one life meaning is love for one's children to tie to; in another life, a talent to be used; in a third, perhaps only lingering memories worth preserving. In his studies, he stated that people survive to weave those slender threads of a broken life into a firm pattern of meaning and responsibility. Frankl poses three different lives in his theory. Either a person could be living one of the three or he or she could be living all three at one time. People just do not realize the magic. If one cannot find his or her "will-to-meaning in life, Frankl says that the sufferer fails to find meaning and a sense of responsibility in his existence. Later on, Frankl puts an answer issue to this by saying "A human suddenly realizes he has nothing to lose except his so ridiculously naked life." Frankl titles this idea as a mixed flow of emotion and apathy that is simply arresting. Also, Frankl gave a good meaning to his theory by quoting Nietzsche, "He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how." That quote was a really moving statement to me.

In the story Like Water For Chocolate, a young woman named Tita was haunted by her mother when she died. The love for a man made her mother haunt her because of Tita's disobedience to her mother after she had died. In relation to Frankl's ideas to this story, Tita had a reason to live as well as Frankl did. Frankl lived to write about what he had learned. His family all died in concentration camps with no meaning to life whatsoever. Tita at first thought she had no reason to live until meeting the love of her life. As Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

Magical realism relates to certain academic fields such as psychology because of the state of mind one must use to really know what is happening. In Frankl's will-to-meaning, like magical realism, one has to have a realization of what is going on and a "why and how" attitude towards it. Both are based upon the "real and unreal" where a person look upon things with other minds, not just a person's own natural state (psychologically)-(magically). I think magical realism has become more popular over the last sixty years because it is shown to be a relation to things used today in our academic fields. I think that if it was not used then it would not be as fun to learn about it. When there are more perspectives, learning is a lot more interesting.

  1. unsoundness in one draws out the meaning in other

  2. it draws its theoretical relevance from psychology

  3. the correlation between the two makes it academically more acceptable

  4. certain paradigms of psychology exemplify the phenomenon of magical realism
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) is a wrong statement and hence the right answer as there is no mention about the pathology in either one. (2) and (3) are right statements as per: “I think magical realism has become more popular over the last sixty years because it is shown to be a relation to things used today in our academic fields. I think that if it was not used then it would not be as fun to learn about it. When there are more perspectives, learning is a lot more interesting.” (4) is a right statement as per the example of Victor Franklin and his theory. (5) is right as magical realism requires introspection which is a psychological phenomenon. 

Multiple choice

Which of the following is an instinctive response?

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

If psychology is a science, it is no longer a thing of guesses or theories, but is a grouping of confirmed facts about the mind, facts proved in the psychology laboratory even as chemical facts are demonstrated in the chemical laboratory. Wherein psychology departs from facts which can be proved by actual experience or by accurate tests, it becomes metaphysics, and is beyond the realm of science; for metaphysics deals with the realities of the supermind, or the soul, and its relations to life, and death, and God. Physics, Chemistry, Biology have all in their day been merely speculative. They were bodies of theory which might prove true or might not. When they worked, by actually being tried out, they became bodies of accepted facts, and are today called sciences. In the same way the laws of the working of the mind have been tested, and a body of assured facts about it has taken its place with other sciences. It must be admitted that no psychologist is willing to stop with the known and proved, but, when he has presented that, dips into the fascinations of the yet unknown, and works with promising theory, which tomorrow may prove to be science also. What do we mean by "mental life"? We might say the science of the life of the mind. And what is mind? But let us start our quest by asking first what reasons we have for being sure that mind exists. We find the proof of it in consciousness, although it has been learned that the activities of the mind may at times be unconscious. So where consciousness is, we know there is mind; but where consciousness is not, we must find whether it has been, and is only temporarily withdrawn, before we say "Mind is not here." And consciousness we might call awareness, or our personal recognition of being - awareness of me, and thee, and it. So we recognise mind by its evidences of awareness, i.e., by the body's reaction to stimuli. Consciousness is evidenced in what we call response to stimuli. But while consciousness can be as vague, as dubious as that of the protozoan, it is the mind that is as clear, as definite, as far reaching as that of the statesman, the chemist, the philosopher. The "phenomena of mental life"; embrace the entire realms of feeling, knowing, willing - not of man alone, but of all creatures. But it is the psychology of the human mind that vitally concerns us. Animal psychology, race psychology, comparative psychology - are not within the realm of our practical needs in life. We would know the workings of man's mind in disease and health. What are the instinctive responses to fear, as shown by babies and children and primitive races? What are the normal expressions of joy, of anger, or desire? What external conditions call forth these evidences? What are the acquired responses to the things which originally caused fear, or joy, or anger? How do grown-ups differ in their reactions to the same stimuli? Why do they differ? Why does one man walk firmly, with stern, set face, to meet danger? Why does another quake and run? Why does a third man approach it with a swagger, face it with a confident, reckless smile of defiance?

  1. A boundless human expression of joy

  2. The animal response to stimuli

  3. Desire for riches

  4. A bear changing to eating of grasses in the absence of game

  5. A walk with a swagger
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

All, except 2, will fall under the category of learned responses.

Multiple choice

What is the tone of the passage?

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

If psychology is a science, it is no longer a thing of guesses or theories, but is a grouping of confirmed facts about the mind, facts proved in the psychology laboratory even as chemical facts are demonstrated in the chemical laboratory. Wherein psychology departs from facts which can be proved by actual experience or by accurate tests, it becomes metaphysics, and is beyond the realm of science; for metaphysics deals with the realities of the supermind, or the soul, and its relations to life, and death, and God. Physics, Chemistry, Biology have all in their day been merely speculative. They were bodies of theory which might prove true or might not. When they worked, by actually being tried out, they became bodies of accepted facts, and are today called sciences. In the same way the laws of the working of the mind have been tested, and a body of assured facts about it has taken its place with other sciences. It must be admitted that no psychologist is willing to stop with the known and proved, but, when he has presented that, dips into the fascinations of the yet unknown, and works with promising theory, which tomorrow may prove to be science also. What do we mean by "mental life"? We might say the science of the life of the mind. And what is mind? But let us start our quest by asking first what reasons we have for being sure that mind exists. We find the proof of it in consciousness, although it has been learned that the activities of the mind may at times be unconscious. So where consciousness is, we know there is mind; but where consciousness is not, we must find whether it has been, and is only temporarily withdrawn, before we say "Mind is not here." And consciousness we might call awareness, or our personal recognition of being - awareness of me, and thee, and it. So we recognise mind by its evidences of awareness, i.e., by the body's reaction to stimuli. Consciousness is evidenced in what we call response to stimuli. But while consciousness can be as vague, as dubious as that of the protozoan, it is the mind that is as clear, as definite, as far reaching as that of the statesman, the chemist, the philosopher. The "phenomena of mental life"; embrace the entire realms of feeling, knowing, willing - not of man alone, but of all creatures. But it is the psychology of the human mind that vitally concerns us. Animal psychology, race psychology, comparative psychology - are not within the realm of our practical needs in life. We would know the workings of man's mind in disease and health. What are the instinctive responses to fear, as shown by babies and children and primitive races? What are the normal expressions of joy, of anger, or desire? What external conditions call forth these evidences? What are the acquired responses to the things which originally caused fear, or joy, or anger? How do grown-ups differ in their reactions to the same stimuli? Why do they differ? Why does one man walk firmly, with stern, set face, to meet danger? Why does another quake and run? Why does a third man approach it with a swagger, face it with a confident, reckless smile of defiance?

  1. Questioning

  2. Authoritative

  3. Misleading

  4. Analytical

  5. Explanatory
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

The author explains the importance of studying human psychology scientifically.

Multiple choice

The author does not believe that

Directions: The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

If psychology is a science, it is no longer a thing of guesses or theories, but is a grouping of confirmed facts about the mind, facts proved in the psychology laboratory even as chemical facts are demonstrated in the chemical laboratory. Wherein psychology departs from facts which can be proved by actual experience or by accurate tests, it becomes metaphysics, and is beyond the realm of science; for metaphysics deals with the realities of the supermind, or the soul, and its relations to life, and death, and God. Physics, Chemistry, Biology have all in their day been merely speculative. They were bodies of theory which might prove true or might not. When they worked, by actually being tried out, they became bodies of accepted facts, and are today called sciences. In the same way the laws of the working of the mind have been tested, and a body of assured facts about it has taken its place with other sciences. It must be admitted that no psychologist is willing to stop with the known and proved, but, when he has presented that, dips into the fascinations of the yet unknown, and works with promising theory, which tomorrow may prove to be science also. What do we mean by "mental life"? We might say the science of the life of the mind. And what is mind? But let us start our quest by asking first what reasons we have for being sure that mind exists. We find the proof of it in consciousness, although it has been learned that the activities of the mind may at times be unconscious. So where consciousness is, we know there is mind; but where consciousness is not, we must find whether it has been, and is only temporarily withdrawn, before we say "Mind is not here." And consciousness we might call awareness, or our personal recognition of being - awareness of me, and thee, and it. So we recognise mind by its evidences of awareness, i.e., by the body's reaction to stimuli. Consciousness is evidenced in what we call response to stimuli. But while consciousness can be as vague, as dubious as that of the protozoan, it is the mind that is as clear, as definite, as far reaching as that of the statesman, the chemist, the philosopher. The "phenomena of mental life"; embrace the entire realms of feeling, knowing, willing - not of man alone, but of all creatures. But it is the psychology of the human mind that vitally concerns us. Animal psychology, race psychology, comparative psychology - are not within the realm of our practical needs in life. We would know the workings of man's mind in disease and health. What are the instinctive responses to fear, as shown by babies and children and primitive races? What are the normal expressions of joy, of anger, or desire? What external conditions call forth these evidences? What are the acquired responses to the things which originally caused fear, or joy, or anger? How do grown-ups differ in their reactions to the same stimuli? Why do they differ? Why does one man walk firmly, with stern, set face, to meet danger? Why does another quake and run? Why does a third man approach it with a swagger, face it with a confident, reckless smile of defiance?

  1. study of the mind is complex because even if a lot of facts have been accounted for, there is still a lot that is required to bring it under the umbrella of science

  2. in the sub-conscious state, the mind is withdrawn, but only temporarily

  3. human psychology concerns us more than animal psychology

  4. sciences other than psychology, like Physics, Chemistry and Biology, are the sciences in true sense of the term

  5. mind is a collective noun for all the areas concerning feelings, knowledge and will of a human
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Nowhere does the author say that psychology is an incomplete science. Rather, the author treats it as a science like others.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following question has a sentence or a paragraph with one italicized and underlined word that does not make sense. Choose the most appropriate replacement for that word from the options given below the sentence/ paragraph.

The physical universe is an expression of consciousness of the Creative Principle that manifests itself as energy, inextricably interconnected and an exact persiflage of the whole infinite universe. Despite the illusory perception of separateness that we experience, our minds remain connected to the whole universe at all times.

  1. delineation

  2. explanation

  3. rendition

  4. metaphrase

  5. variant
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The physical universe is an exact 'rendition/replica' of the whole infinite universe.

Multiple choice

Freud's writing rejected the existence of dream interpreters or terminology explaining meanings of dream symbols. He said the significance of all dreams could be studied through personal experience as self analysis would be the best to study one's own fantasies. Freud was a firm believer of the theory that every action and thought has a cause probably entangled with the unconscious mind. Every dream has a symbolic notation. It is a representation of our hidden pleasures and desires which our ego has guarded in day's light. In the blackness of night these pent up urges get outrageous and find way through dreams, even healthy minded dream. The content or stimuli to these dreams could relate to any present or past event of restriction.

What is the underlying theme of the passage?

  1. The suppression of day dreams becomes the stimuli to dreams in the night.

  2. Dream interpretation based on symbols was considered unscientific by Freud.

  3. Freud believed that every human action is rooted in the unconscious.

  4. Freud considered dreams to be related to unconscious mind.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The entire passage talks of how Freud believed that every dream is a symbolism associated with the mind.

Multiple choice

The psychologist's final task is to explain the appearance and disappearance, the connections and sequences of these mental objects, the contents of consciousness. But before he can start on explanation of the facts, he has to describe them, and describing means analyzing them into their elements and fixating those elements and their combinations for an exact report. Such descriptive work is in a way simple preparation for the further task of real explanation; _________________.

What is the most critical completion of the passage?

  1. the real challenge is the big picture

  2. it furthers the idea that analytical reasoning is the best method

  3. yet it is in itself important, complicated, and difficult

  4. which is why the whole exercise was initiated

  5. it depends mainly on the depth of understanding of the psychologist
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence starts with 'simple explanation for real explanation' and it is logically carried forward with 'yet important and complicated'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

Dreaming is a ________ activity of the mind which is not limited by the power of _____, which is not interrupted by self consciousness and which is not directed by self determination, but which is the freely operating _____ of the sensory centers.

  1. monstrous, peculiarity, phenomena

  2. preposterous, eccentricity, reality

  3. fundamental, indivisibility, trivial

  4. natural, individuality, vitality

  5. somatic, sleep, dictate
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

'Natural' in (4) fits the first blank, as this is the essence of the sentence. The clause, after 'which', provides an explanation to what precedes it. Keeping this in mind, 'individuality' replaces the second blank and 'vitality', the third blank. Hence, (4) is the answer.

Multiple choice

What is the purpose of the passage?

Diection:

            The true reality of life can be known only when we maintain
            a balance between the mathematical elements of nature,
            on the one hand, and consciousness and will, on the other.
            There are two things in nature we have no doubt about; our
(5)        existence and the outside world. But there is something
            which makes us aware of these two elements and that is
            our thought. Whatever we feel, our conclusions, our fears,
            and aspirations, all revolve around our thinking. Our flesh
            and bones cannot perceive things in nature. It is the capability
(10)      of our thoughts alone. Even a physically disabled man with a
            sane mind gets rational thoughts. So there is some great
            power that picks impressions from surroundings, concludes
            ideas, and gives reasoning and judgment. And that power
            is the power of thinking. This is real “I myself”. This ‘I myself’
(15)      has an existence apart from its physical reality. It is the
            real self or person who deals with others in society. Its
            physical body is a medium through which he can verbalize
            his thoughts. The real person is embodied in the thoughts
            of the personality. So judge not a person’s physicality but
(20)      his thoughts.

  1. To ascertain equilibrium between mathematical elements of nature and human will.

  2. To emphasize the significance of consciousness over physicality while judging a person.

  3. To synchronize personal thoughts with other elements of the society.

  4. To exert the lucidity of thoughts as spiritual rather than the materialistic.

  5. To elucidate the importance of existence and the materialism of the outside world
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The real person is embodied in the thoughts of the personality.