Abstract This paper concerns the philosophy of the mind and attempts to answer the question of whether dualism provides an acceptable account of the mind. In doing so, the fundamental arguments and problems associated with dualism are discussed and analyzed. This paper assesses the plausibility of a number of different forms of dualism such as Descarte's cartesiandualism, property dualism and epiphenomenalism.
From the Paper "For centuries, philosophers have debated the ontological problem of the mind. Through introspection, we know that we, and believe others possess a conscious intelligence that has the ability to register emotions, interpret sensations and perform reason. But where do such abilities originate? In what medium do they take place and how is it that our mental phenomena such as desires and beliefs seem to be able to causally act on the physical world? Dualism is just one of many theories that have sought to find answers to such intriguing questions. Unlike materialist theories that optimistically asserts that all mental phenomena can eventually be explained through physics and neurological science, dualists argue that mental phenomena is so far removed from anything physical that it requires the existence of a non-physical entity or property. Since, as yet science is unable to fully explain all mental phenomena such as consciousness, perhaps dualism is a plausible alternative. Is any form of dualism plausible?"
Abstract Dualism is the theory that the mind and the body (mind and matter) are two distinct things. This paper examines the theory as set forth by philosopher Rene Descartes in his work "Meditations on First Philosophy" in which he discusses what has come to be called the Cartesiandualism - that the mind and body are separate and that the mind is incorporeal.
From the Paper "Inherent in Descartes's argument is the mind-body problem and the need to understand what is the mind and what is the body as well as how they are connected and related. The mind is our awareness, the one thing that we can know is real. It is the site of rational thought. It is subject to the senses in that it acquires information through the senses, but it is not a sense in itself. Descartes says he had no doubts as to the nature of "body," though now he has had to reconsider this position given that he realizes all the elements of the body are known to him only through the senses that he does not trust any longer. He says if he had been asked to explain the nature of the body, he would have explained that it was whatever could be determined by a certain shape, and comprised in a certain location, whatever fills a certain space so as to exclude from it every other body, whatever can be apprehended by the senses, and whatever can be moved in certain ways. In truth, he is identifying the body through various characteristics perceived by the senses and in no way identifying the body itself. The mind is his awareness and his reality, but the body may be an illusion sent to deceive him. Here he shows an intuitive understanding of duality, for the mind is trusted for what it develops through reason even as the senses are linked with the physical body that is in effect fooling the mind."
Abstract This paper describes the epistemological and ontological characteristics of Cartesiandualism. It gives a detailed outline of Descartes's view of the mind/body relationship and explains why the contemporary view of the mind/body relationship is strikingly different from what Descartes's interactionist dualism suggests. The paper begins with Descartes's statements in his "Meditations" and expresses the problems that he faced afterwards.
From the Paper "Substance dualism holds that reality consists of two disparate parts - mental and physical - which are deeply different in kind. Descartes' mind/matter distinction, most accurately called the Cartesian interactionist dualism, is a particular kind of substance dualism in which the "mental" mind and the "physical" body can causally interact. Descartes (1596-1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician and psychologist, who is often considered to be the founder of the modern discipline of philosophy. He lays down the foundations of his interactionist dualist theory in his "Meditations on First Philosophy"."
Abstract This paper is an in-depth academic examination of the philosophy of dualism. It defines dualism and describes the important arguments in support of it through the concepts of Descartes, Chalmer and Jackson. The paper debates the existence of qualia. The author presents a decisive argument against dualism and in support of physicalism.
Table of Contents:
What is Dualism?
A Cartesian Argument for Dualism Jackson's Knowledge Argument for Dualism Chalmers? Zombie Argument for Dualism Arguing against Dualism: Why it is a False Theory of the Mind
References
From the Paper "Dualism is a philosophical theory about the fundamental nature of reality. Perhaps the most important and best known proponent of the view was Descartes who described it as follows: ?Thought and extension can be regarded as constituting the natures of intelligent substance and corporal substance; they must then be considered as nothing else but thinking substance itself and extended substance itself that is, as mind and body.? [CSM I p. 215]. Influenced by Descartes characterization, contemporary philosophers take Dualism to be the conjunction of the following two theses:
(1) There are mental properties and there are physical properties.
(2) Neither kind of property can be reduced to the other. "
Abstract This paper looks at the theories of dualism as espoused by philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Descartes, and Kant, and explains how the various branches of dualism differ. The paper begins with a description of substance dualism, explains how it differs from monisms, pluralisms, and a dialectic, and then explains metaphysical dualism and epistemological dualism.
From the Paper "Dualism is a view that implies that there are two separate and distinct substances that make up a human being: mind and body. In religious terms, the mind is often equated with the soul - with Plato and Aristotle, for instance, where the Greek term nous is used to describe the part of the individual that survives death."
Abstract Rene Descartes, in his Meditations on First Philosophy, addresses a wide variety of questions, from nature of the self and perception, to the demonstration of the existence of the world and of God. However, his argument in these Meditations begins at a point of radical scepticism concerning the existence of the universe and the nature of reality. Central to this argument is the idea of Cartesiandualism, or the separation of rational intellect from the body and the senses. In this context, this paper will argue, through a examination of various facets of Descartes' argument, that in the final analysis Meditations on First Philosophy retains a measure of this scepticism in its refusal to accept the position that knowledge may be acquired by the senses. 4 pgs. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Abstract This paper discusses the Cartesian mind-body dilemma by analyzing Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy". The paper explains that Cartesiandualism intended to moderate between the established religious paradigm of the time and the emerging natural sciences and by positing mind and body as complete substances which refer to nothing but themselves. The paper also looks at how Descartes' theory of mind preserves the religious conception of man as an immortal soul in possession of free will by placing such outside the realm of the physical sciences. The paper points out that Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy" seeks to establish two distinct classes of substances in mind and extension, but fails to adequately address the manner in which these two incommensurable substances interact to generate our experience of the world. The writer suggests that Descartes conceives of the body as a 'kingdom within a kingdom' of mind, and is left with the problem of how these kingdoms are able to carry out diplomatic relations with one another.
From the Paper "The cogito, 'I think therefore I am', delimits mind as the substance of thought, the primary existential of being. This is arrived at by proposing that there could be a malicious demon of some sort that may be propagating a vast illusion of experience, generating even our thoughts. Even in this radical scepticism, however, Descartes concludes that there must be something that this hoax is played upon, and no matter what this demon may be able to do, he can never convince something that it is nothing; "...I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind" . The cogito, therefore, shows mind to be a substance that is necessarily true without reference to any other substance. It is the essence to which all the modes of thought refer."
Abstract This paper looks at Descartes's approach to dualism, how he based his idea on what Augustine wrote in his work, "City of God", and considers how the advances made in the life sciences has caused modern society to revisit the concept of dualism.
From the Paper "As a philosophy used to understand the composition / nature of mankind, Cartesian Dualism had its origin's with Rene Descartes. Descartes approached the subject of mankind's unique identity by wrestling with logical arguments that were intended to answer metaphysical problems. His writings expanded the limited religious framework of his day, as he attempted to understand the nature of mankind as dual, both body and soul, through means that were not attached to an individual creed. His work has long been looked to as the basis for understanding the unique position which mankind holds in the universe (Charles Darwin, please take notice.)"
Abstract This paper compares views on nonreductive materialism and substance dualism and looks at problems the philosophical theory of nonreductive materialism encounters with relation to causation. It also examines concepts of neurophysiological processes in the brain.
From the Paper "This essay will explain the philosophical theory known as nonreductive materialism. It will then identify the problems that this theory encounters with respect to causation and then given its ..."
Abstract This essay explores Cartesian aesthetics as they relate to mind and body. The author traces the history of how the mind and body relationship is treated by the authors Eric Cassell and David Morris, particularly as it relates to Cartesian aesthetics. This is a critical, argumentative essay.
From the Paper "The design of this essay is to explore the positions of Eric Cassel and David Morris on the issue of pain and suffering. First, each author is in turn examine in general, after which attention is turned to specific issues they in tandem address, which include the definition of pain and the interconnectedness of pain and suffering to an entire human being. What will be revealed is how both authors reject both the contemporary definition of pain and the Cartesian dualism that is associated with the differentiation between mind and body."
Abstract The paper explores the role of Bayle as the Father of the Enlightenment, and attempts to explain the enigma of how such unrelenting scepticism can at all have been the "Arsenal of the Enlightenment". It lays forth the Cartesian debate with its origins in the Baconian method of science and Descartes ontology regarding the certainty of empirical knowledge. It also argues that the hidden rationale of the Cartesian debate, was to justify the Bacon's claim that sense experience is the root to absolute knowledge. This attitude of premeditation led the Cartesians into false arguments, confusion and absurdity. It looks at how in the end Bayle espoused a form of scepticism that was so thoroughly honest that it jolted the Western intellect back to its senses.
From the Paper "Cartesian doubt is the process by which Descartes arrived at the prize of absolute certainty of knowledge. The premise is that one should begin with Pyrrhonian doubt, thereby doubting everything stemming from experience, until one is left with consciousness of thought alone, and this, Descartes argues, cannot be doubted because the very process of doubting is also the process of thinking. "Cogito, ergo sum" was the conclusion of Descartes - I think, therefore I am. This is the one solid certainty left after Cartesian doubt. But then he introduces the false argument that God would not deceive him regarding the universe, and thus it is real, and sense experience is true knowledge of it. From this argument emerges the concept of mind and body duality. Thought is taking place in the mind, and this has no material substance or spatial extension. On the other hand the body does have substance and extension, along with everything else in the universe. "
Abstract The paper explains the concept of dualism, which holds that every human being is divided into two parts in which the mind and the body are considered as different from each other. The paper discusses how the body belongs to the physical element while the mind belongs to the intellectual element. The paper points out that any material substance is defined as physical; materialism includes all things that exist. The paper looks at Rene Descartes' theory of dualism and examines the arguments of Paul Churchland against dualism. The paper demonstrates how the arguments of Churchland regarding dualism are quite doubtful and very unclear.
Outline:
Concept of Dualism Concept of Materialism
Rene Descartes' Theory of Dualism Paul Churchland's Argument Against Dualism
From the Paper "During the 17th century Rene Descartes was the famous dualists philosopher because of his belief that there are two substances that exists in the universe. His particular philosophy is referred to as substance dualism because he believed that the universe consisted of two different kinds of substances that he termed res extensa (extended things, physical things) and res cogitans (thinking things) (Cofer, 2002). He believed that every action of the body, the mind only responds on the body's actions. The set of thinking things does not exist in space and time as we know it, but are separate, irreducible and exist after the body is completely gone (Cofer, 2002)."
Abstract This paper examines the argument and describes the historical background to Cartesian doubt. It describes Descartes proposal of a method of doubt that, logically carried through, led to absolute certainty in empirical knowledge. It then describes the influence that his claims had on the educated community. The paper goes on to explain how Cartesian doubt was a flawed argument from the beginning and how its faults began to appear.
From the Paper "In the year 1637, through his publication of Le Discours de la Methode (Discourse on Method), Descartes was supposed to have refuted at last the age-old problem of empirical scepticism. At the time of its publication the argument was a resounding success, and seemed to have removed the key obstacle that lay in the way of the progress of science. Fortified by a philosophy of empirical certitude, the enthusiasm for experimentation and science gained a staggering boost, and a direct consequence was the Age of Enlightenment. Only after the demise of the Enlightenment did the flaws in Descartes' argument begin to appear prominent. But by this time the determinist agenda had succeeded and the scientific method had established itself as the backbone to European civilisation."
Abstract The paper discusses Rene Descartes' belief about the dualism of mind and body in which Descartes states that the mind and body can exist and function independently from each other.. The writer of the paper first looks at Descartes' four categories of explanations for his body-mind dualism arguments and then explains why he believes that, regardless of the multitude of forces brought in favor of the body - mind dualism, one cannot correctly state that body and mind can function on their own.
Outline:
Abstract
Dualism of Mind and Body
Support of Mind - Body Dualism Personal Belief
Conclusions
From the Paper "Rene Descartes is regarded as one of the greatest minds humanity has ever mastered. Born in France, he became specialized in several subjects, such as theology, philosophy, literature, mathematics, law or medicine. A firm sustainer of the sciences, Descartes believed that everything surrounding him could be explained as a combination of mathematics and another subject. "Descartes, who was convinced that science and mathematics could be used to explain everything in nature, was the first to describe the physical universe in terms of matter and motion, seeing the universe a as giant mathematically designed engine." "
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of dualism, which is any philosophical system that attempts to explain 'everything' in terms of two distinct principles. The paper discusses how dualism relates to religion today in the United States, according to William DuBay. The paper then discusses the psychological theories of dualism, in terms of the mind and the body and also discusses dualism in terms of human behavior.
From the Paper "Dualism, which allowed Descartes to distinguish mechanical behavior from behavior generated by free will, thus resolving the conflict between the materialist interests and religious concerns of his era, continues to underpin scientific accounts of human action (Chiesa). Although psychology generally subscribes to the idea that individuals comprise behavior and something else, and dissects the individual along the lines of intention, beliefs, and perception, radical behaviorism dispensed with dualism, and starts "from a different view of persons in that it does not separate them into behavior and some other internal system" (Chiesa). Thus the individual is the sum of what they do, and are defined in terms of their behavior, with no other entity. Because radical behaviorism does not assume that behavior counts as evidence of something else, the individual is a unity rather than a duality, "an interactive part of its environment rather than a contained and separate entity" (Chiesa). Therefore, the individual operates in rather on an environment, and because a person is what he does, behavior takes primary place (Chiesa)."
