Mental states of the Mind-body problem
Abstract:
The mind-body problem is a highly debated topic in philosophy, and has resulted in the creation of many theories attempting to answer it. Applying the mind-body problem to a situation where a patient lacks a normal brain but appears completely normal questions the mental states that the patient has. Looking at the views based on different theories that five doctors express, the things that stand out to me are multiple realizability, Token Identity theory and functionalism. Because of these, I argue that the patient possess the usual range of mental states.
Body:
The study of how the mind and body interact with each other has been a concern of many areas of study. This leads to the
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I believe this as I feel that mental states can be multiple realizable. An instance of someone’s mental states are identical to instances of physical states, so some of these states may be realized through different connections in the brain oppose to the normal connections. Because of this, I conclude that Token Identity theory, physicalism, and multiple realizability are equivalent to a view of functionalism. And thus, I would tend to agree with the conclusions of Doctor 3 which appears to take a non-explicit view of functionalism.
In this scenario, the doctors debate about the amount of mental states that the patient has. Since it is stated that the patient lacks a normal brain but appears completely normal, this leads me to believe that the patient possesses the usual range of mental states. If others were to observe the patient to determine if they possess all sensations and qualia that a normal brain could experience, then if the patient did, they would appear to be normal. This is the case in the given scenario, so the patient must have the usual range of mental states in order to realize all of sensations and qualia a normal brain would, which allows them to be classified as normal. Hence this is why I believe that the patient has the usual range of mental states. Further to argue for this, according to the theories, a functionalist view makes this possible which is why I
The first subpart is a form of dualism and is known as Elemental Property Dualism. Elemental Dualist believe that the mental substance can interact with a person’s brain. However they deny the idea that mental processes are the identical to the physical processes of the brain. In cases there have been two problems that evolve with believing Elemental Property Dualism. The first being that if a mental property is fundamental, why are all the other fundamental properties opposed. The second issue is that Elemental Dualism offers no sign of justification, for figuring the presence of a fundamental property to clarify cognitive function (C.B.).
The mind and body problem studies the relationship between the mind and the body, particularly the consciousness and the brain. The problem is traced to Descartes, who questioned how the immaterial mind could affect the material body. In his view, the mind is a thinking thing while the body is an extended thing, where the mind and the body are two separate substances, and held that there are two way causal reactions between the two. The problem arises when we question how an immaterial object affect a material object in action (such as when the body performs an action), and how an unextended thing affect something that is extended (such as the experience of pain). With this indication, the primary questions that concerns the mind-body problem concentrates on the questions of: is the mind part of the body, or vice versa? If they are different, then how do they interact? Conversely, the most common concern inquires whether the mind and body are separate characteristics or the same thing. For hundreds of years, researchers, scholars, and philosophers have been trying to solve the problem of consciousness.
Fodor begins his article on the mind-body problem with a review of the current theories of dualism and materialism. According to dualism, the mind and body are two separate entities with the body being physical and the mind being nonphysical. If this is the case, though, then there can be no interaction between the two. The mind could not influence anything physical without violating the laws of physics. The materialist theory, on the other hand, states that the mind is not distinct from the physical. In fact, supporters of the materialist theory believe that behavior does not have mental causes. When the materialist theory is split into logical behaviorism and the central-state identity theory, the foundation of
For centuries, inquisitive minds have struggled to comprehend the notion of a non-physical soul. They attempted to explain the soul using tangible, representative parts of the human body. Throughout history, scientists and philosophers have explained the representative theories of mind using a variety of logical and experimental techniques. The logical arguments produced cardiovascular and ventricle theories of the mind, and the experimental techniques led to the encephalic theory of mind and medical practices like phrenology and more recently MRI brain scanning.
There are three main theories that explains the nature of the human mind; substance dualism, the identity theory and functionalism. All of these theories deal with the mind, but are separated by how each relates to the body. In this paper I will be distinguishing the main strengths and weaknesses within these theories and be defending which one I feel to be the best theory.
As a human beings we have beliefs, desires, emotion and other ‘mental states;’ and our bodies seems to react to those mental states; for instance, if I have the belief that Wynton Marsalis will play a show, I will move my body to get the tickets before sold out. However the identification of this belief as a mental state with a brain state in terms of the identity theory shall suggest that all the people that may go to the show is in the same brain state, but the arguments of the multiple realizability theory (MRT for short) suggests that this is not the case; this is, can be claimed that different people may have different brain states for the same mental states. As a results of the criticism from
The purpose of this paper is to explain the mind-body problem. I will be describing the basic concept of the mind-body problem with the five basic problems that are categorized with it. I will also be taking a stand in property dualist view while offering a counter argument and then a reply to that argument.
This essay will focus on the materialist views of the mind body problem, materialists believe that the mind and body are indistinguishable, whereas dualists believe
Thus if psychology cannot be reduced to physics, it is not because psychology is not physical in an ontological sense; it is because the appropriate bridge laws will not allow a full explanation in physical terms. This suggests the idea of physicalism that may entail Fodor’s view, via the generality of physics; Fodor(1974/2002) suggests “that any event which falls within the universe of discourse of a special science will also fall within the universe of a discourse of physics” (p. 128), he also maintains that “it is not further required that the taxonomies which the special sciences employ must themselves reduce to the taxonomy of physics” (Fodor, 1974/2002, p. 134). Moreover, Fodor (1974/2002) argues that “the attempt to pair neurological structures with psychological functions is foredoomed” (p.130). Thus Fodor allows for the independence of the special sciences – a non-reductive physicalism – and in doing so, implies criticism of the identity theory proposed by Place and Smart, and an alternative he defend a functionalist
In discussing the relationship between the body and the mind, there are a few key terms that are used in the discussion. One very important concept to understand is the mind-body problem, this is the philosophical issue that we do not know how the physical body and the mind interact, it has been a topic of discussion for hundreds of years and many theories have been created to explain the connection between the mind and body. To understand the discussion surrounding the mind-body problem one must also know the difference between mental and physical states. Mental states are a being’s perception of their experiences and ideas, there exist two different type of mental states. Firstly
In philosophy, Mind–body dualism is any theory that states that the mind and body are two distinct kinds of substances or natures. The problem of the relationship of the mind to body arose from the works of René Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician of the 17th-century who gave dualism its classical formulation or made it to be what it is today. Conceived from his famous “Cogito, ergo sum” (Latin) meaning “I think, therefore I am,” he developed a theory of the mind as a nontangible and unmaterialistic, substance that employs various activities such as rational thought, imagining, feeling, and willing. Whereas matter, or extended substance, conforms to the laws of physics automatically; with the important exception of the human body, which he believed is causally affected by the human mind and which causally produces certain mental events. (Principles of Philosophy) Subsequently, the mind-body problem is the problem of what is the relationship between mind and body? Or alternatively: what is the relationship between mental properties and physical properties?
Out there, in our own world, there is a battle going on that most of us are completely unaware of, and it is all comes down to the mind-body problem. The mind-body problem is how the mind and the body interact with each other. The mind is the mental side of things; thoughts, imagination, and most importantly consciousness, whereas the body is the physical side; the make up of your brain neurons and your body.
Across the years, many scientists and philosophers believed that a human being is made up by mind and body (Radner, 1971). Some of them believed that the mind-soul is something different from the body and each of them works by themselves without any interaction between them (Radner, 1971). The other point of view said that body and mind works together as a unity and mutually influences each other and the result is the human being. This view had been held by great figures like the Greek philosopher Aristotle and Aquinas (Radner, 1971). Who argued that there should be a connection between mind-soul and body, because only in this way sensation and voluntary movement which needs both mind and body to operate can be explained (Radner, 1971).
According to different theories; the human mind and body may or may not have a correlation. In other words, there are explanations that concur that the mind and the body have a relationship of some kind. Yet there are other explanations that may disagreed and appose the fact that there is such an idea of the mind and body correlation. In this paper I will discuss the history of theories regarding the relationship between mind and body, as well as my understanding of this relationship. I will also discuss how psychological factors and physical illness relate to each other. In the second part of this essay I will give an example of a physical illness and explain how do psychological factors impact it. Last but not least I will mention how
The mind-body connection alludes to the affinity between the mind and body, specifically in matters of health and well-being. It is founded on the notion that an individual 's thoughts and emotions affect the body, as do social and behavioral factors. “A strong and healthy body is believed to have a positive effect on the mind, and a positive mind correspondingly allows for a healthy strong body” (Clarke, 2001).