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relationship between mind and body in psychology
the distinction between mind and body
the distinction between mind and body
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I believe that the Mind and Body are two separate entities and have different properties. Because I believe this to be true I am in support of the Difference Argument of Dualism. The difference argument deals with the mind and the body and tries to explain how they are not the same thing by distinguishing them to have different properties. The mind is private and is only observable to that person and the body is public and observable by all. Protesters of this argument try to say that the mind and body are not distinct and are the same thing or that they are two separate things but with the same properties. The version of the difference argument I am supporting is as follows:
(1) The mind is private, the body is not private.
(2) If the mind but not the body is private, then the mind and the body are distinct.
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This does not mean the others cannot know what you’re thinking just that they cannot observe your mind like you can. The body is not private because I can see what you’re doing and so can you. We see each other and what actions we each make. This means that the body is public for all to see and observe. Premise two is true because the mind and body have different properties making them distinct. The mind is private and the body is not. The mind is also non spatial and the body is spatial. Both show how the mind and body differ which means they are distinct.
One argument used to refute the difference argument for dualism is the other minds argument stating:
(1) If the mind is private, then I don 't know what you are experiencing or whether you are experiencing at all.
(2) I know that you are experiencing, and I know what you are experiencing.
(3) Therefore, the mind is not
we cannot understand a body to be anything but divisible, whereas we cannot understand the mind to be anything but indivisible. For we cannot conceive of half of a mind, as we can conceive of half of any body whatever, no matter how small. From this we are prompted to acknowledge that the natures of mind and body…are different from one another. (Meditations, p. 8-9)
“even bodies are not strictly perceived by the senses or the faculty of imagination but by the intellect alone, and that this perception derives not from their being touched or seen by from their being understood…”
An important idea is that since the mind can differentiate itself from the body, and the body is unable to think, which leads to the conclusion that the two substances cannot be the same, as they have different properties [Descartes 1641: 32]. This is a valid argument as each premise leads to the conclusion, regardless of whether the premises lead to a sound argument. While this is a valid argument, I would say that premise i. could be seen as a supposition, as there is no empirical proof of Descartes being able to visually or physically separate the substances. As I have presented Descartes argument and supplied additional, suppressed premises, I will now assess the soundness of this
The differences of mind and soul have intrigued mankind since the dawn of time, Rene Descartes, Thomas Nagel, and Plato have addressed the differences between mind and matter. Does the soul remain despite the demise of its material extension? Is the soul immaterial? Are bodies, but a mere extension of forms in the physical world? Descartes, Nagel, and Plato agree that the immaterial soul and the physical body are distinct entities.
This argument supports the claim that the body and mind are two in the same. Premise 1 explains the reason we feel pain from stubbing our toe is that the mind and body work together. In a Dualist view minds are non-physical and non-spatial. Based on the assumption that our mind can be spatially divided there is no way to prove this because the only way the mind can be divided is in space and we can’t verify this to be true.
One of the ways in which Descartes attempts to prove that the mind is distinct from the body is through his claim that the mind occupies no physical space and is an entity with which people think, while the body is a physical entity and cannot serve as a mechanism for thought. [1]
Dualism claims that the mind is a distinct nonphysical thing, a complete entity that is independent of any physical body to which it is temporarily attached. Any mental states and activities, as well as physical ones, originate from this unique entity. Dualism states that the real essence of a person has nothing to do with his physical body, but rather from the distinct nonphysical entity of the mind. The mind is in constant interaction with the body. The body's sense organs create experiences in the mind. The desires and decisions of the mind cause the body to act in certain ways. This is what makes each mind's body its own.
Do you think that Descartes qualifies to your satisfaction that the mind and body are separate from each other? Only halfway; too many things are left up in the air, and the language is not quite clear. The mind and body can each exist separately and independently of one another. But they also need one another to work properly. This relationship is why the mind and body argument was shown with the sailor and ship scenario. By claiming that the mind and body were similarly related to each other as the sailor and the ship, Descartes was giving the average but intuitive reader something to ponder about while trying to make up his or her own mind about the relation between mind and body. From my point of view, however, Descartes needs further argument to prove that the mind and the body are distinct.
. There are two kinds of dualism. One is Substance dualism which holds that the mind or soul is a separate, non-physical entity, but there is also property dualism, according to which there is no soul distinct from the body, but only one thing, the person, that has two irreducibly different types of properties, mental and physical. Substance dualism leaves room for the possibility that the soul might be able to exist apart from the body, either before birth or after death; property dualism does not. A substance dualism is something with "an independent existence". It can exist on its own. This holds that each distinct non-physical entity mind composed a different kind of substance to material objects. Substance dualist believed only spiritual substances can have mental properties. It is “soul” along with certain memory and psychological continuities that constitutes the survival of the person. Physical properties of property dualism are properties like having a certain weight, conducting electricity and mental properties are properties like believing that 1+1=2, being in love, feeling pain, and etc. Property dualism allows for the compatibility of mental and physical causation, since the cause of an action might under one aspect is describable as a physical event in the brain and under another aspect as a desire, emotion, or thought; substance dualism usually requires causal interaction between the soul and the body. Dualistic theories at least acknowledge the serious difficulty of locating consciousness in a modern scientific conception of the physical world, but they really give metaphysical expression to the problem rather than solving it.
Before we proceed to critique dualism, it is imperative we first understand the arguments that dualists put forward in regards to the exact nature of their theory. Descartes was one of the major proponents of this theory. Dualists generally believe that things exist in or are composed of two different things or entities. Descartes believed that in regards to human beings that two attributes existed; the physical part that talks, walks and exists, the physical body that can be seen and proven to exist empirically and the mind or soul which is an entity that cannot be seen but is believed to exist . This is the part that is autonomous to the physical body. Descartes then went further to illustrate that human beings or matter go on with their own business and follow their own laws until the mind/soul intervenes which interferes with the physical nature of humans. He therefore believed that the mind and body of human beings were therefore two distinct elements.
Along with an argument usually comes a counter-argument or rebuttal. The main question about the mind-body issue is how can us humans determine the interaction between mind and matter. I believe property dualism is a logic, justifiable response because it separates the mental entity from brain states, and shows how it can be related to physical substances. The knowledge argument helps convey this view because it shows how non-physical properties such as consciousness, can be proven in any given person. The problems of interaction argument is a well structured rebuttal against property dualism, mostly because it brings about the issue that the mind is not a physical entity, thus it 's not possible for a non-physical substance to interact with a physical substance. According to scientism, this statement is correct but it can be refuted through a different perspective. A dualist could respond to this and bring out multiple points. The first one being that yes, the mind does act upon or bodies and the issue is only apparent, and does not exist. A good example of this can be pain. If a human breaks a bone, the pain is brought to the mental state of the person, then passed on to the brain for processing. This is direct evidence for the argument, and shows how the mind and body can interact. A second point I would consider a rebuttal for this argument, a dualist could
The Theory of Mind-Body Dualism is the view that there are two different kinds of things or substances that make up human beings: a physical body and a non-physical mind or soul. “Many dualist believe that a materialistic account of the mind is insufficient to explain everything we want to about the nature of mind and that the mind can be ‘embodied’ or ‘disembodied’” (Mind Body Dualism 1 Notes). Two famous arguments that breaks down dualism a little is The Argument from Conceivability says that the mind can exist without a body like a “disembodied mind” and the body cannot exist without a mind. And The Argument from Divisibility saying the mind cannot be identified with body because the body is divisible while the mind is indivisible.
In Meditation Six entitled “Concerning the Existence of Material Things, and Real Distinction between the Mind and Body”, one important thing Descartes explores is the relationship between the mind and body. Descartes believes the mind and body are separated and they are two difference substances. He believes this to be clearly and distinctly true which is a Cartesian quality for true knowledge. I, on the other hand, disagree that the mind and body are separate and that the mind can exist without the body. First, I will present Descartes position on mind/body dualism and his proof for such ideas. Secondly, I will discuss why I think his argument is weak and offer my own ideas that dispute his reasoning while I keep in mind how he might dispute my argument.
Since ancient times, philosophers have debated on the relationship between how mind and matter relates, and interact, if at all. One such view became known as dualism, where the mind and body (matter) are two distinct, non-identical entities. Under dualism, lies interactionism, or mind-body interaction; a type of dualism where the physical world causally affects the mental world and vice versa. A strong supporter of dualism was Descartes who believed that physical and mental phenomenon only affects what goes into the brain, but opponents heavily criticized such view claiming it is not humanly conceivable and inconsistent with known laws of science. Yet, despite such arguments against the mind-body interaction, of all views, interactionism
...nclude, Ryle is correct in his challenge of Descartes’ Cartesian dualism, the mind and body are not two separate parts as dictated by dualist, rather the working of the mind are not distinct from the body. As a result, an observer can understand the mind of another through the actions of the body. It is the combination that makes up a human, human, as they are one and the same.