Brain versus Mind By Logic,A Historically Irresolvable Debate
As computer and neuroscience technology progresses, the perceived role of the human brain grows ever more complex and seemingly more determinant as to what makes a person, a self. Research and development projects in both the fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence add fire to the Mind versus Brain debate. Are the biochemical mechanics of the brain sufficient explanation for human behavior, or is there a “mind”, distinct from the brain, which harbors free will? In other words, are human thoughts and conscious actions[1] entirely based on science or on purposive cause, calling for unscientific philosophy and/or religion? Whether there is a teleological explanation[2] for human behavior and brain activity centers around the issue of determinism. A purely mechanical explanation is intrinsically deterministic, whereas a teleological explanation leaves room for free will. Because the Mind versus Brain debate rests on whether there is free will, and because neither a purely mechanical nor a teleological explanation is logically defensible to a satisfactory extent, the teleological debate concerning human behavior and brain activity is logically irresolvable.
To understand fully teleological and purely mechanical explanations of human behavior and brain activity, it is first necessary to understand the fundamental biochemistry of brain function. Although the brain is the most complex and least understood organ of the human body, its functionally essential constituent is the neuron, which exists in clusters called ganglia.[3] A neuron, or an excitable nerve cell, transfers within the brain an electrochemical (or sometimes a purely elec...
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...10. AND Weil, John L. A Neurophysiological Model of Emotional and Intentional Behavior. Springfield, Illinois; Charles C. Thomas, 1974. Pg. 146. Hereafter cited as Neurophysiological Model: Emotions, Intents.
[14] Neurophysiological Model: Motions, Intents. Pg. 146.
[15] Ibid. Pg. 148.
[16] Neuroscience and Person: Science and Divine Action. Pg. 191.
[17] McMullin, Ernan. “What Difference Doe A Mind Make?” FROM Brain and Behavior. Pg. 444.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Granit, Ragnar. “In Defense of Teleology” FROM Brain and Behavior. Pg. 400.
[20] Searle, John R. The Rediscovery of the Mind. Cambridge, Massachusetts; The MIT Press, 1992. Pg. 21.
[21] Brain and Behavior. Pg. 435.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Mechanistic Conditions. Pg. 451.
[24] Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works. New York, New York; W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. Pg. 80.
[25] Ibid. Pg. 450.
Neuroscientists claim that due to unconscious brain activity, we are “biochemical puppets” (Nahmias). Through experiments conducted by neuroscientists like Itzhak Fried, neural activity is shown to occur before a conscious decision is made. Fried concluded that this was a predetermined occurrence
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The biological perspective examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour. It emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion. It is believed that thoughts and emotions have a physical basis in the brain. Electrical impulses zoom throughout the brain’s cells, releasing chemical substances that enable us to think, feel, and behave. René Descartes (1596–1650) wrote an influential book (De Homine [On Man]) in which he tried to explain how the behaviour of animals, and to some extent the behaviour of humans, could be like t...
One half of the story was of a man named Daniel Burnham, who was a famous architect of his time. It’s in this half of the story that can you see the good part of the city. Pride can be seen mainly throughout his story. His life in these pages was based on the construction of the World Columbian Exposition which was a fair held in Chicago in 1893. This magnificent fair was in honor of one of America’s most well known discoverers, Christopher C. Columbus. This was the 400th anniversary of his discovery of the new world. Through Burnham’s pride and his determination, he was able to complete the fair in almost a year. However, it was not truly ready for opening day due to a few construction issues, such as the world’s f...
Based on alternative concepts of free will rather than traditional interpretations, neuroscience has not yet been able to provide a definitive conclusion to the debate over free will. Philosophers such as Al Mele (2013) and Daniel Dennett (2006) claim that neuroscientific inquiry and data will continue to provide valuable insight into the mind and its mechanisms. For now, however, all of the scientific evidence thus discovered is completely compatible with modern constructions of what it means to have free will.
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Are minds physical things, or are they nonmaterial? If your beliefs and desires are caused by physical events outside of yourself, how can it be true that you act the way you do of your own free will? Are people genuinely moved by the welfare of others, or is all behavior, in reality, selfish? (Sober 203). These are questions relevant to philosophy of the mind and discussed through a variety of arguments. Two of the most important arguments with this discussion are Cartesian dualism and logical behaviorism, both of which argue the philosophy of the mind in two completely different ways. Robert Lane, a professor at the University of West Georgia, define the two as follows: Cartesian dualism is the theory that the mind and body are two totally different things, capable of existing separately, and logical behaviorism is the theory that our talk about beliefs, desires, and pains is not talk about ghostly or physical inner episodes, but instead about actual and potential patterns of behavior. Understanding of the two arguments is essential to interpret the decision making process; although dualism and behaviorism are prominent arguments for the philosophy of the mind, both have their strengths and weaknesses.
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
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