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655-705 Level|   Logical Flaw|   Resolve Paradox|         
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Sajjad1994
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 16 Aug 2019, 03:47
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E
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55% (hard)

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66% (02:25) correct 34% (02:34) wrong based on 788 sessions

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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. Achieving this goal requires knowledge of neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. At present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. Thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future.

Which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?

(A) The conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.

(B) The passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.

(C) The word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”

(D) The argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.

(E) The passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.
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E
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nurba92
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 16 Aug 2019, 04:45
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SajjadAhmad
“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. Achieving this goal requires knowledge of neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. At present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. Thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future.

Which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?

(A) The conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.

(B) The passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.

(C) The word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”

(D) The argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.

(E) The passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.
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I hope it's E because there is a list of requirements, requirements that will together contribute to the goal, and have info about some entities in the list, but no info regarding interaction of neurons.
Please correct me if I am wrong
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 16 Aug 2019, 04:59
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Of the three requirements two are talked about in the stimulus, but no mention of how neurons interact is made. So E appears the most logical

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Of the three requirements two are talked about in the stimulus, but no mention of how neurons interact is made. So E appears the most logical

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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 24 Nov 2019, 15:54
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SajjadAhmad
“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. Achieving this goal requires knowledge of neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. At present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. Thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future.

Which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?

(A) The conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.

(B) The passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.

(C) The word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”

(D) The argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.

(E) The passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.
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A B and D are easy out.
The choice is between C and E. Upon verifying choice C, you will find that author uses mental functions both in the beginning and at the end so that confirm we are keeping the same meaning only.

Hence Choice E
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 08 Oct 2020, 15:57
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is this referring to the second part of the list of requirements not met?

The list in question is
1. basic neuron function
2. how they interact
3. delineation of psychological faculties
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 10 Oct 2020, 00:40
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Explanation

Three things are required in order to achieve the physicalists' goal: 1) a knowledge of the basic functions of neurons; 2) a knowledge of how neurons interact; and 3) a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. At present, two of these things have already been attained—we have knowledge of the basic functions of neurons, and we understand the scope and character of many psychological capacities. Therefore, the author concludes, we can expect to achieve the goal of explaining mental functions in neurobiological terms in the near future. What happened to “a knowledge of how neurons interact?” The flaw is that three things are required to achieve a certain result, and the author concludes that the result can be achieved even though we only have two.

(A) The conclusion agrees with, not contradicts, the physicalists.

(B) The author should not be expected to describe “exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.” We’re concerned only that that knowledge is needed for the result, and that it currently exists. The argument’s validity doesn’t rely on a delineation of the specific mechanics involved.

(C)'s complaint, that the word “neurobiological” is used as if it had the same meaning as “mental”, is the very opposite of the truth. If the two words had been treated as meaning the same thing from the beginning, the argument would have been pointless. The point is that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms.

(D) Outside the scope; the argument isn’t concerned with whether explaining mental functions in neurobiological terms is useful, only that it will be accomplished in the near future.

Answer: E
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 18 Sep 2024, 21:43
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But it says that it is bound to explain in the near future, what if it is assuming that in the near future it will get the neurons interaction answer and then it will explain
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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be exp 29 Sep 2024, 10:21
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Ayushi0002
But it says that it is bound to explain in the near future, what if it is assuming that in the near future it will get the neurons interaction answer and then it will explain
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That is exactly what the mistake is about. First three conditions are said to be required but only two are given some perspective as on date. Thereafter a conclusion is offered which is in line to the first sentence.

Yes, definitely, in future we may get to know the answers but what is the present situation of answer of how they interact may have changed the conclusion altogether. The conclusion may have remained same or changed as in the explanation is already there. If so, the conclusion then does not hold as it is.

Thus, not covering the third factor is a fault.

HTHs.
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