The Introduction Of The Modular Model Of Thought, By Jerry

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.

Descartian dualism is one of the most long lasting legacies of Rene Descartes’ philosophy. He argues that the mind and body operate as separate entities able to exist without one another. That is, the mind is a thinking, non-extended entity and the body is non-thinking and extended. His belief elicited a debate over the nature of the mind and body that has spanned centuries, a debate that is still vociferously argued today. In this essay, I will try and tackle Descartes claim and come to some conclusion as to whether Descartes is correct to say that the mind and body are distinct.

As of the making of the new science “psychology,” the ancient Greeks created psychology’s biggest question in history; “Are our human traits present at birth, or do they develop through experience?” That specific question developed the “nature-nurture issue.” The nature-nurture issue is what the behavior goes to heredity or experience. As the issue began, Greek philosopher, Plato, assumed that we inherit character, intelligence, and certain ideas are developed inborn, on the contrary, Greek philosopher, Aristotle debated that nothing comes in the mind through the senses of the external world. Later in the 1600’s, there were new rivals for the nature-nurture issue which were John Locke and Rene Descartes. Locke didn’t follow through Plato’s whole “inborn” hypothesis, however, Locke suggests that the mind starts off undeveloped and figures out on it own by experience. Descartes on the other hand, disagreed to Locke’s concept. Unlike John Locke’s disagreement to Plato, Descartes obviously favorites Plato’s hypothesis because due to Descartes remark, he declares that some ideas are inborn. As Descartes laid down Plato’s remark, two centuries later, a naturalist named Charles Darwin came to dissolve more of the issue.

There is without a doubt that there is wonder and question into the existence of our mind and bodies and the various aspects that they uphold. There are issues discussed that raise question as to how our mind and body work together as a system. This issue is introduced by philosophers as the mind-body problem. This problem questions the relationship between our mental states and the physical aspects of our bodies. Throughout debates and time, philosophers have come up with multiple solutions and ideas to solving and answering this problem. There are two main responses to this mind-body problem: dualism and physicalism. Dualism, being that the mind and body are different things and physicalism, meaning the mind and body are the same thing and that everything is entirely made physical. However, it seems that dualism has a lot more explanation behind it than physicalism and is backed up to be more correct.

The human brain is a feat of evolution: it has allowed humans to have complex thoughts, conscience, build tools, create fires, and much more. Humans did not acquire this simply by chance. Evolution throughout our ancestral past has shaped and moulded the human mind to its state. The earliest of ancestors, including apes, had very small brains, but as evolution progressed, so too did the human brain. The rapid progression of human intelligence has been attributed to environmental changes causing humans to change with their surroundings for survival. This lead to the expansion of specific areas of the brain, vastly differing maturation of humans compared to our

Summary: The problem of the soul continues as Descartes suggested that the human is composed of two completely different substances; a physical body which Descartes compares with a machine, and a non-physical mind, related to the soul, that allows humans to think and feel even if it has no “measurable dimensions” (67). But Elizabeth put in doubt his ideologies when she realized that a non-physical thing doesn’t have the strength to push and move the body. This led to several questions unanswered and also let space for other materialist theories such as behaviorism, mind-brain identity, and functionalism, which also fail in offering an explicit solution.

This in turn allowed them to consider the context of differing abilities to cope with fluctuating resources, different variables, and overall paths in brain development between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs). Although Neanderthals did share similar brain sizes comparable to anatomically modern humans (AMHs), nevertheless Neanderthals brain cases were elongated and not globular as in Homo Sapiens implying that anatomically modern humans (AMHs) and Neanderthals reached fairly large brain sizes along dissimilar evolutionary paths. In their underlying research, they hypothesize that similarly sized brains of both Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs) were ostensibly organized differently for two

In 1983 Jerry Fodor opened the introduction to his new research of “Modularity of mind” with the phrase; “Behavior is organized, but the organization of behavior is merely derivative”. This meaning that behaviors are simply imitations, never original nor created. Fodor created a theory of how the mind was structured and how would perform. He studied the architecture of mind in modules; a term that will describe that the mind had different specific structures that had precise purposes. Jesse J. Prinz just like Fodor was a philosopher who was in opposition of the “Modularity of the mind” theory. This essay will have as a purpose to create an argument on the explanation and disagreement that Prinz wrote cluster by cluster against the theory “Modularity of mind” in an article called “Is the mind really modular?”

In Meditation six: Concerning the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and Body, Rene Descartes wrote of his distinctions between the mind and the body, first by reviewing all things that he believed to be true, then assessing the causes and later calling them into doubt, and then finally by considering what he must now believe. By analyzing Descartes’ writing, this paper will explicate Descartes’ view on bodies and animals, and if animals have minds. Before explicating the answer to those questions, Descartes’ distinctions between the mind and the body should first be summarized and explained.

The philosophical thought is that the mind and body are two separate things; with one being able to exist without the other has caused much discussion and debate among philosophers and theologians over the years. René Descartes and Plato, two well-known philosophers, argue that people have a mind or soul, which is somehow connected with the body, but the mind or soul can exist independently from our body. Descartes introduces the mind-body argument while Plato presents the soul-body argument. Although the arguments differ in some ways, Descartes and Plato also have similar opinions on the issue. As a person of faith, there is some difficulty in explaining to a non-believer that when a person dies, the soul does not perish with the body. While siding with Descartes and his belief in a perfect God, this essay seeks to review the issues of dualism and meditation, through the eyes of Descartes and Plato.

It can be very difficult to find a universal proposal that offers a solution to the mind body problem. While solutions to this problem differ greatly, all attempt to answer questions such as: What makes a mental state mental? What is the fundamental nature of the mental? Or more specifically speaking, what makes a thought a thought? Or what makes a pain a pain? In an attempt to answer these questions, many philosophers over the centuries have rejected, proposed, or altered preexisting theories in order to keep up with the thinking and science of their times. Entering the 21st century their still exit a plethora of theories, some stronger than others, which include Cartesian dualism, physicalism,

Evolutionary psychology is a specialist field within the spectrum of psychological enquiry, which seeks to examine and understand some of the predominant reasoning behind the concept of why the human species, whilst biologically similar to other species on the planet, is so very distinct in terms of intelligence and mental progression; demonstrated by the multifaceted and complex social structures we have created. Primary to this domain of evolutionary psychological interest is the notion of ‘theory of mind’, which was developed

“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?

The next species to appear were the Homo erectus which might have descended from Homo habilis. They were the first human whose fossils were found outside of Africa. They also had larger brain than the species before them. Homo sapiens sapiens came after the Homo Neanderthalensis; they are the only human species around. This could have been due to the result of increase brain sizes that allows more cognitive abilities that help them adapt to different environment changes and hence survive. Global evidence have been found of art, music, and culture and advanced tool making. In Mithen’s 3 phase of mind proposes that the shape of the Neanderthals’ frontal lobe was similar to the one of the modern Homo sapiens and this indicated that they were able to cope with complex cognitive functioning. Evidence for this could be explained using the phonological approach by Frank Gall (1758-1828).

The Mind-Body problem arises to Philosophy when we wonder what is the relationship between the mental states, like beliefs and thoughts, and the physical states, like water, human bodies and tables. For the purpose of this paper I will consider physical states as human bodies because we are thinking beings, while the other material things have no mental processes. The question whether mind and body are the same thing, somehow related, or two distinct things not related, has been asked throughout the history of Philosophy, so some philosophers tried to elaborate arrangements and arguments about it, in order to solve the problem and give a satisfactory answer to the question. This paper will argue that the Mind-Body Dualism, a view in