Do we have a soul inside ourselves? Does this “soul” make us who we are? Can the “soul” change? There are arguments between philosophers debating each side. Some believe that there is a soul, while others do not. Some believe that the soul can change, while others do not. There is no scientific evidence siding with either side. However, there are many studies that have been conducted in order to attempt to prove one side right. These attempts have not been successful. There have also been cases where individuals claim that they had a soul and lost it. Again, nothing has been proved; there are studies, and testimonials arguing one side or the other. Still we find ourselves asking the same questions over and over again. This essay will discuss …show more content…
For example, if someone were in a car accident they would more than likely say, “you hit me!” rather than, “you hit my car!” this is because we substitute a shell for our bodies. In this example the car is the body while the person inside is the soul. The soul or person can get out, file a police report, then proceed to purchase a new vehicle, a body. The example demonstrates how the mind associates with the body, thinking they are one unit, while it is actually possible for the soul to leave. No one can say for sure whether our souls have lived before in a different shape or form previous to the current body it is in. In the “Who Am I?” podcast with Radiolab they talk to the daughter of a woman who claims that she has lost her “self” or “soul”. The mother woke up with a horrible headache, so she got up and went to her exercise class per usual. Her headache had not gotten any better so she was taken to the hospital. She had a brain aneurism and fell into a coma for 4 months, but still had her consciousness. When she awoke she began going to recovery and therapy class, but her daughter did not recognize her any longer. She claimed her mother had died the day she had the aneurism. After months of recovery the mother explained that she believed she had a different soul. She no longer was concerned with the same trivial concerns. She was more free, and outgoing without having to feel perfect all of the time. She even got a tattoo. Here the mother is …show more content…
Some creatures are only able to sense the world while others, humans, are able to process and manipulate the world with their minds and bodies. This is a great difference between humans and other life forms. The body takes action when the mind or consciousness tell it to act. David Edmunds and Nigel Warburton sat down with Tim Crane to discuss the relationship between the mind and body. Crane explains “think of the mind as being a thing, some sort of entity that may or may not be separate from the body but rather to think of human beings to have mental capacities so that people have the capacity to think, to act, to feel and to have emotions and to be conscious, all of these mental capacities I’d classify as the mind,” (Crane 1:17-1:41) here Crane begins to go into detail about how humans have the ability to be conscious within their bodies. The body is able to move or adjust things in the physical world but it is relying on our thoughts, emotions, actions, and our consciousness to tell the body how to act or what to do. This does go to show “that the mind has physical effects in the physical world” (Warburton 2:33-2:36). The mind and the brain are not the same thing. Throughout the entire podcast, “Who Am I?” they addressed the mind as inside of the brain,
...what Richard Taylor might have already done. Nagel at no time in his essay made any strong points on the mind and brain being separate, but his points were built to disprove Taylor’s last point. Nagel’s statement about Martians being able to learn more about our brains than us allows us to reach the conclusion that at no point there is the necessity to believe that there is a soul or a mind separate from the body. What it proves is that science is still trying to better itself and cannot currently explain private psychological states or experiences, but that the mind is the brain and the brain is the body.
The mind-body problem can be a difficult issue to discuss due to the many opinions and issues that linger. The main issue behind the mind-body problem is the question regarding if us humans are only made up of matter, or a combination of both matter and mind. If we consist of both, how can we justify the interaction between the two? A significant philosophical issue that has been depicted by many, there are many prominent stances on the mind-body problem. I believe property dualism is a strong philosophical position on the mind-body issue, which can be defended through the knowledge argument against physicalism, also refuted through the problems of interaction.
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.
I do not think that the mind and body are the same thing. Both from arguments relating to my own beliefs, and with supporting arguments I hope to have thoroughly explained why I feel this way. I just don?t see how something as unique as the mind, with so much nonphysical substance to it, can be a part of the brain, an object which is so definitively physical. Although I feel the two are separate, this does not mean that I think they have no connections at all. The mind and brain are, without a doubt, a team. They interact together and run the body, however, they just are not the same thing.
In everyday life it appears that the body is overlooked in its relation to the mind. This notion of body and mind separation is not something that necessarily sits well with people. The debate can sit on either scientific knowledge or religious beliefs. Currently this is what we deal with when this sort of debate occurs. With the various belief structures prevalent in humans we can’t assume argument is stronger than another.
Mind and body are one in the same because if the mind were not affected by the physical world, then it would not have to follow the rules of the physical world. If the mind were truly a separate thing from the body, in theory people should be able to have outer body experiences as they please. It cannot be done because the mind is confined to the body and therefore is part of the body. Outer body experiences people have claimed to have are nothing but dreams. When a person suffers trauma and claims to have had an outer body experience what they describe as experiencing is the same description of a dream. Everyone who truly dies never come back. Dead men tell no tales.
The relationship of the human soul and physical body is a topic that has mystified philosophers, scholars, scientists, and mankind as a whole for centuries. Human beings, who are always concerned about their place as individuals in this world, have attempted to determine the precise nature or state of the physical form. They are concerned for their well-being in this earthly environment, as well as their spiritual well-being; and most have been perturbed by the suggestion that they cannot escape the wrongs they have committed while in their physical bodies.
Johnstone, M., Primmer, J. (2014). [Lecture]. The Mind-Body Problem. PHILOS 1E03, Problems of Philosophy. Hamilton, ON, Canada: McMaster University.
In my experience, I am aware of many cases in which my body affects my mind (I stub my toe & I feel pain) and many cases in which my mind affects my body (I feel an itch & I scratch it).
Numerous speculations have been advanced to clarify the relationship between what we call your mind and your brain. They incorporate Jackson and Nagel 's journey to oppose recognizing what we call 'mental
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 mind is the stage where perceptions make their appearance. They are like actors who walk across the stage and are exposed to different situations and environments. Just like various actors walk across the stage at various times with different perceptions to tell the same
Death is something that causes fear in many peoples lives. People will typically try to avoid the conversation of death at all cost. The word itself tends to freak people out. The thought of death is far beyond any living person’s grasp. When people that are living think about the concept of death, their minds go to many different places. Death is a thing that causes pain in peoples lives, but can also be a blessing.
But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human life, such as human dignity and personal identity. The mind-body problem entails two theories, dualism and physicalism. Dualism contends that distinct mental and physical realms exist, and they both must be taken into account. Its counterpart (weak) physicalism views the human as being completely bodily and physical, encompassing no non-physical, or spiritual, substances.
...have struggled with the nature of human beings, especially with the concept of “self”. What Plato called “soul, Descartes named the “mind”, while Hume used the term “self”. This self, often visible during hardships, is what one can be certain of, whose existence is undoubtable. Descartes’s “I think, therefore I am” concept of transcendental self with just the conscious mind is too simplistic to capture the whole of one’s self. Similarly, the empirical self’s idea of brain in charge of one’s self also shows a narrow perspective. Hume’s bundle theory seeks to provide the distinction by claiming that a self is merely a habitual way of discussing certain perceptions. Although the idea of self is well established, philosophical insight still sees that there is no clear presentation of essential self and thus fails to prove that the true, essential self really exists.