24.09 Minds and Machines

Problem Set 3. Assigned 3/3. Due in recitation 3/10. Answer "yes" or "no" unless otherwise indicated.

(1) Does Smart think that the statement 'I have a green after-image' means the same as a statement of the form 'Such-and-such process is occurring in my brain'?

(2) Does Place think that the word 'consciousness' might refer to a process in the brain?

(3) Suppose that sensations are identical to type-S brain-processes, and that the "Fido"-Fido theory of meaning is true. Does it follow that 'sensation' and 'type-S brain-process' are synonymous?

(4) Does Smart think that experiments have shown epiphenomenalism to be false?

(5) Is 'The president of MIT = Susan Hockfield' contingent?

(6) Is 'The least prime greater than the number of planets = 11' necessary?

(7) Which of the following is rigid?:
(a) 'Susan Hockfield's husband'
(b) 'The neuroscientist named 'Susan Hockfield''
(c) 'The sum of the infinite series 1/n! (n=0,1,2,...)'
(d) 'The least prime greater than the number of planets'
(e) 'Jessica Simpson's sister'

(8) Is Kripke arguing against (a) only type-type identity theories, (b) only token-token identity theories, or (c) both?

(9) Does Kripke think that 'Heat is the motion of molecules' expresses an a priori truth?

(10) Does Kripke think that 'Heat is the motion of molecules' expresses a contingent truth?

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