Dualism Concept Of The Human Mind

The concept of the human mind has always been an important yet difficult notion to describe in terms of a definition or set of conditions. Thoughts, beliefs, and desires seem to have a clear distinction from the corporeal elements of the physical human brain. Each seems so distinct from the other that they can be considered two fundamentally different things. Utilizing a dualism approach, it is logical to discern that there are different elements within the human body and human mind; The tangible elements of the brain such as neurons and hormones are considered physical states, while the thoughts, beliefs, desires, emotions, and other non-physical things are considered mental states. This paper will show that by utilizing Leibniz 's law, the

Physical properties do not share the same features as mental properties, as mental properties of the mind such as thoughts and beliefs don 't contain physical properties such as weight, color, or shape. Mental states are also claimed to be different from physical states because while physical things can be observed by everyone, a mental state can only be experienced by a single person, and no one else can experience that specific person’s mental state. Dualist views state that the mental and the physical are both real and neither can be assimilated to the other, and a convincing argument in favor of dualism can be constructed using Leibniz’s

The law states that there cannot be separate objects or entities that have all their properties in common. If X equals Y, then everything that is true of X must also be true of Y. In simpler terms, if X has all the same properties of Y, and Y has all the same properties as X, than X and Y are the same object. Using this notion, dualists can argue that the mind and the body are indeed separate entities. The line of reasoning is as follows: Premise one states that a certain feature is not true for any mental states. Premise two states that the same certain feature is true of all physical states. The logical conclusion would then be that mental states cannot be identical to anything physical. The follow up to this reasoning would then be that the body is physical, therefore mental states are not identical to the body. An example of this argument would be the premise that beliefs have no color. However, every physical thing has a color. Therefore, beliefs cannot be considered physical things. Since the body and all its parts are physical things, it can be logically deduced that that beliefs are not identical to any part of the body. Leibniz’s law provides a clear distinction between mental states and physical states by defining properties that one or the other possesses, showing how the other state does not possess those properties, proving them to be two entirely different