Examine and Comment on the Claim That the Mind and the Body Are the Same

In essence, Cartesian Dualism attempts to solve the mind-body problem – that is, what is the relationship between the mind and the body? The answer, according to this theory, is that the mind and the body are two distinctly different substances that constitute each person. Here, “mind” can be described as a nonphysical thing that thinks and “body” as a living physical thing that does not think. The mind can also exist independently of the body, and both can causally affect one another.

In metaphysics, the problem of distinguishing the mind versus the body has persisted throughout time and remains a highly debatable topic in philosophy today. Two opposing perspectives in particular remain especially favorable in modern philosophy. Dualism, considers the mind and the body to be separate in that humans are, in effect, immaterial non-physical beings—people are souls. René Descartes examines in Meditations on First Philosophy the incompatibility of a reality in which the mind and body exist as a singular, strictly physical entity. In opposition to this perspective is materialism (or physicalism). Materialism argues that the human person is one with the human organism, and therefore exists solely as a physical being. In an

Descartes is a dualist and John Locke is a monist and they are both historical figures of psychology. Dualism is when a person believes an actuality can be physical and non-physical. In addition, humans are made up of a mind, god, spirt, or soul which can be defined as an immaterial substance that exists along with the brain and body. I am a dualist like Descartes because I believe that I have a physical body and I will be able to preform and participate in physical activities, but once I pass away I believe that my spirit will live on and go to heaven. I believe once people die they will be able to see their past family members and friends that have pasted away in this separate world that us humans know nothing about. People who believe in

During the sixteen hundreds, the French philosopher René Descartes laid the foundations for the beginnings of Cartesian Dualism. In contrast, the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued against dualism in favor of materialism. Recently, Cartesian Dualism, and dualism in general has fallen out of favor as materialism arose as a more plausible and explanatory theory regarding the interrelationships between body and mind. The translation Descartes’ writing in the Meditations is far more cryptic than Hobbes’ writing in the Leviathan. Making it far easier to see Hobbes’ claims. Hobbes provides a reasonable explanation against dualism in his objections to Descartes, and in his Leviathan, provides background upon his reasoning in

Dualism is defined as a belief that mental occurrences are more than just a physical act. Humans are composed of two kinds of substances which are immaterial and physical. The immaterial substance consists of the mind or soul and the physical substance consists of the body. Moreland attempts to make nonbelievers believe in the immaterial soul by mentioning that there are numerous non-physical entities that we believe in, such as numbers, goodness and moral laws. This ultimately leads to the defense of dualism and rejecting the physicalism worldview that is present with those that deny that the mind and body are separate entities.

Dualism is defined as the view that hold what exist is either physical or mental. (pg.98). Also dubbed the “two-realms view” by Plato, identifies some things as having both components, it is the most accepted idea since most believe that there has to be a mental connection with physical items. Materialism is the view that only the physical exist (pg.98). There is no connection mentally to the physical material; I believe this is stating that we did not have a real idea towards the material. Idealism is the view that only the mental exist. (pg.99). this is the most farfetched one of them all, that everything we know is a perception not a

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.

At the start, I will talk about the argument from the religion aspect for dualism. Most major world religions are based on separating the ‘mind’ and ‘body’. The eternal ‘mind’ or soul either ends up in heaven or hell, free from the ‘body’ itself. According to a number of religions, there is some sort of life after you die; a good example of this is angels which some call the ‘mind’ of god exists without any physical presence. This is what we come to know as substance dualism or something that is very relative to a form of substance dualism. As a result, "seeing how uncertain dualism is, in principle, the similar would be a willing to also be uncertain in one 's religious tradition, which a lot of people find challenging to do". [Churchland] Yet, it must

Thesis: The mind-body problem arises because of the lack of evidence when looking for a specific explanation of the interaction of mental and physical states, and the origin and even existence of them.

There are several arguments to argue that the mind and body are not separate substances. And also, this is especially true in the face of its many different views, one of which does not attack substance dualism directly, but does so indirectly by attacking the very idea of dualism itself. The argument begins by looking at the question of how dualism became so popular. It claims that, firstly, it had to do with the fact that the great majority of Western philosophers around the time when the dualism was at its peak were religious, and most of them are specifically of the Christian faith. Thus, one feature of their religious beliefs was to believe in immortality, and in order to settle their belief with their philosophy, they had to support dualism; the reason being that it was very difficult to believe in immorality without believing in dualism.

     Dualists disagree with the monist view of existence. Dualists hold the belief that there is not one basic form of existence but that there are two forms of existence, the body and the mind. Dualists do believe that we exist with both body and mind but that body and mind are different and separate (Xrefer-Dualism). The main problem with the dualist theory is the question of how two different and separate entities,

The mind-body problem is an age-old topic in philosophy that questions the relationship between the mental aspect of life, such as the field of beliefs, pains, and emotions, and the physical side of life which deals with matter, atoms, and neurons. There are four concepts that each argue their respective sides. For example, Physicalism is the belief that humans only have a physical brain along with other physical structures, whereas Idealism argues that everything is mind-based. Furthermore, Materialism argues that the whole universe is purely physical. However, the strongest case that answers the commonly asked questions such as “Does the mind exist?” and “Is the mind your brain?” is Dualism.

“The mind-body dualism, in philosophy, is the fact that any theory that the mind and body are distinct kinds of substances or natures. This position implies that mind and body not only differ in meaning, but refer to different kinds of entities (Britannica).” The most basic form of dualism is substance dualism. Substance dualism is the idea that he mind and body are composed of two ontologically distinct substances. According to one who believes and studies dualism, the mind is comprised of a non-physical substance, while the body is constituted of the physical substance, also known as matter. Dualism is closely related to the philosophy of Rene Descartes. Descartes identified the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and distinguished this from the brain. He believed that the brain was the seat of all intelligence. This lead to a great debate over the mind and body. So, ultimately, what is the nature of the mind and consciousness and its relationship to the body?

Although, I find that both materialism and dualism has its flaws when it comes to what they theorize, I believe that materialism holds more precedence because it provides evidence that is more tangible and easier to measure and can either be proven right or wrong. Dualism has also based some of their proof of their concepts on things such as the purpose of the pineal gland in the body, which has been proven wrong thus weakening the theory as a

If it is logically possible that my mind exist independent of my body, then my body and mind are distinct things.