Serotonin and Violence
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, continues his comments about serotonin. Dr. Hamer explains that in addition to making people feel depressed, serotonin seems to also trigger hostility i...
Role of DNA, The
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about the role of DNA in human behavior. Dr. Hamer explains that DNA is like "...a blueprint that determines not only our physical bodies, but als...
Are Humans Unique?
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about ways in which we are similar to other primates, as well as ways in which we are different. One major difference is that our brains are capable of performing operations that result in language and culture, which...
Brain in a Vat (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam explains his "brain in a vat" theory. This theory calls into question basic human assumptions about knowledge and reality on the grounds that we have no way of knowing if what we think we see and experience and believe to b...
Serotonin
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about the chemical serotonin and the role it plays in the brain. As it turns out, harm avoidance is controlled by serotonin. Unfortunately, this c...
Behaviorism, Identity Theory and Functionalism
Philosopher John Searle explores various perspectives on the mind which he believes are all flawed, including behaviorism and identity theory, then discusses functionalism, which he says is essentially a combination of the other two. According to fu...
Brain in a Vat (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam discusses problems with using any form of the brain in a vat argument for skeptical purposes. The biggest problem he cites is that the brain in a vat argument itself requires that many of our assumptions concerning the laws...
Socrates and Plato on Knowledge
According to Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, Socrates thought that for anybody to be an expert in any domain, they had to understand the principles and rules of that domain. The result of this thinking was that Socrates concluded no one knows anything. ...
The Mind-Body Problem
Philosopher John Searle explores "the mind-body problem." He begins by talking about the perspective of Descartes and others who viewed the mind and the body as totally separate and distinct areas. Professor Searle then goes on to look at how the mi...