Consciousness and fundamental act :: essays research papers

1. Consciousness is the fundamental fact of human existence, from the view point of persons examining their own experience. There are various aspects of consciouness, such as perception, mental imagery, thinking, memory and emotions. I believe that consiouness is a property of some lower animals and machines. An ant for an example has a conscious mind about staying in covered areas during the rain and to panic when something attacks it. This shows memory, perception and thinking which shows that it does have a conscious. Some machines have something similar to a conscious. A computer for example has a hard drive which is a lot like a â€Å"memory†, in which it stores something, and it has ram, which is basically information stored and ready to be used. If I were to open a web page browser and than open up a word document, I could instantly jump back to the browser because its stored on my hard drive, but loaded on my ram, which is a lot like how if we think about an old memor y, such as grade school, and than wash our hands, the memory of grade school is still fresh in our mind, and we can go back and instantly load it up with less difficulty than the first time. 2. The mind-body problem asks what is the relationship between the mind(conscious) and the body( brain). The two major positions are dualism and materialism. -Dualism holds that mind and body are made of different substances: the body is material but the mind is some immaterial soul stuff, and the mind interacts with the body to control human behavior. Out of body and near death experiences have also been offered in support of dualism, but alternative, naturalistic explanations of these experiences are available. -Materialism is the view that mind and body are inseparable: mental events are produced by brain events. There are 4 types: -Epiphhenomenalism is the view that conscious is a side effect of brain activity but it has no role in controlling behavior. -Identity theory says that mental events are identical brain event. For each mental event, there is a corresponding brain event. - Emergent interactionism- is the hypothesis that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon: it is produced by brain processes, but it has holistic properties of its own and it exerts downward control on brain processes. -Functionalism is the view that the functional characteristics of mental processes is their critical feature, and it doesn’t make any difference whether the physical substrate is a brain or a computer.

5 Ways of St. Thomas

First Way:Â  The Argument From Motion St. Thomas Aquinas, studying the works of the Greek philsopher Aristotle, concluded from common observation that an object that is in motion (e. g. the planets, a rolling stone) is put in motion by some other object or force. From this, Aquinas believes that ultimately there must have been an UNMOVED MOVER (GOD) who first put things in motion. Follow the agrument this way: 1) Nothing can move itself. 2) If every object in motion had a mover, then the first object in motion needed a mover. 3) This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God. Second Way:Â  Causation Of ExistenceThis Way deals with the issue of existence. Aquinas concluded that common sense observation tells us that no object creates itself. In other words, some previous object had to create it. Aquinas believed that ultimately there must have been an UNCAUSED FIRST CAUSE (GOD) who began the chain of existence for all things. Follow the agrument this way: 1) There exists things t hat are caused (created) by other things. 2) Nothing can be the cause of itself (nothing can create itself. ) 3) There can not be an endless string of objects causing other objects to exist. 4) Therefore, ther must be an uncaused first cause called God.Third Way:Â  Contingent and Neccessary Objects This Way defines two types of objects in the universe: contingent beings and necessary beings. A contingent being is an object that can not exist without a necessary being causing its existence. Aquinas believed that the existence of contingent beings would ultimately neccesitate a being which must exist for all of the contingent beings to exist. This being, called a necessary being, is what we call God. Follow the argument this way: 1) Contingent beings are caused. 2) Not every being can be contingent. 3) There must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings. ) This necessary being is God. Fourth Way:Â  The Agrument From Degrees And Perfection St. Thomas formulated thi s Way from a very interesting observation about the qualities of things. For example one may say that of two marble scultures one is more beautiful than the other. So for these two objects, one has a greater degree of beauty than the next. This is referred to as degrees or gradation of a quality. From this fact Aquinas concluded that for any given quality (e. g. goodness, beauty, knowledge) there must be an perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured. These perfections are contained in God.Fifth Way:Â  The Agrument From Intelligent Design The final Way that St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of has to do with the observable universe and the order of nature. Aquinas states that common sense tells us that the universe works in such a way, that one can conclude that is was designed by an intelligent designer, God. In other words, all physical laws and the order of nature and life were designed and ordered by God, the intellgent designer. A more complete explanation of St. Thomas' Fifth Way about God as Intelligent Designer can be seen on my web page dedicated to Paley's Teleological Argument.

The Elementary School Sex Education Debate Essay - 823 Words

Grade School Sex Ed. 1 The Elementary School Sexual Education Debate Sara Vanbuskirk English Comp. 1 Professor Evans November 29, 2011 Grade School Sex Ed. 2 Abstract Controversy is rampant regarding the sexual education of grade school children. Some insist that it is prudent to educate children on this subject beginning as early as kindergarten. Others strongly disagree that earlier education has any effect at all on teen sex and pregnancy and, therefore, abstinence should be the focus. Lastly, we have those who believe advocating abstinence is appropriate, but agree that a more in depth sexual education is also necessary for those who are going to have sex anyway despite our best efforts to teach them otherwise.†¦show more content†¦By exposing students to more comprehensive information Grade School Sex Ed. 4 from an early age, and continuing the education throughout their teen years, students are aware of their choices and more importantly, aware of how to protect themselves. There are many states that do not provide the kind of sex education that New Jersey strives to convey to its students. It more often than not ties in with the religious right proclaiming that students are too young to be exposed to sexual material, and thus sexualized as a result. These fundamental groups oppose any suggestion towards a comprehensive approach. Instead, they ask that their children be taught after grade school and additionally, they steer towards ‘abstinence-only’ education. Instead of teaching students how to protect themselves, they teach that the only way to protect oneself is by abstaining from sex. The problem arises, then, when these students decide to have sex. They are unaware of how to conduct themselves responsibly, how to take precautions to prevent against unwanted pregnancy and disease. What kind of ‘education’ are students receiving when they are withheld crucial information? In essence, we have those who believe we are doing children an injustice by withholding crucial information. Yet others believe it is their right to choose when and where we educate ourShow MoreRelatedSingle Sex And Co Educated Schools887 Words   |  4 PagesThe debate on utilizing single sex or co-educated schools has been around for far too long. However, this controversy will come to an end today. No one should look and depend on the bright side only, because single sex schools are not exactly what everyone expects. Do people really expect for a child’s grades to improve at an instant? Psychological problems will begin to increase if students do not interact with the opposite sex. Students will lack the advantages of the co-educational elementaryRead MoreSingle Sex Schooling And Coeducation882 Words   |  4 PagesSingle-sex schooling and coeducation have been doing through a huge debate throughout the years. Researchers wonder if single-sex education is more useful than coeducation. 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