Philosophy Essay: Describe and illustrate 2 problems facing substance dualism
Substance dualism is the philosophical theory that contends the existence of two fundamental substances, mind and matter. The most famed proponent of this theory is the French philosopher René Descartes. From his cogito argument, which claimed that all we could know was that we had a mind, he concluded that the mind and body must be separate.
Descartes highlighted 3 essential differences between the mind and body. He argued that the body was divisible and extended where as the mind was not; basically he believed that the body was spatial and the mind was not. You cannot cut the mind in half; it is not quantitative such as the body. He also contended that the mind was a thinking thing whilst the body was not.
The first and foremost problem facing any substance dualist, is how exactly the non-spatial and immaterial mind has an effect on the spatial and material body. It is clear that the mind and body are connected in some way as when I see something the thought of it enters my mind, but how exactly the immaterial can have any sort of effect on the material (and vies versa) is unimaginable. Having said that, Descartes believed that there was a two way connection between the mind and body, but his explanation for how they connect is far from satisfactory, involving a system of ‘animal spirits’ who stimulate the pineal gland in the brain thus having an effect on the mind. Whilst providing a sophisticated (for his time) model of the nervous system, Descartes still fails to clearly illustrate the essential connection between mind and body. There is no visible link between them. It seems a bit of a leap to me, to assume that the mind and body are connected after declaring that all we can know is that we have a mind. If this be the case, then it is wrong of Descartes to assume this connection because having a body and there being a connection between it and the mind is not a predicate of having a mind.
Descartes believed that mind and body were essential to each other, just like a car and its fuel are. Without the fuel, the car is going nowhere and without the car the fuel is serving no purpose. He supposed that the body was what allowed the mind to function, but not exist. The mind could exist independently, but not function within this reality without the body. From this, one would assume that any being with a body could possess a mind. But on the contrary, Descartes contended that though animals did have the necessary bodily organs with which to think, they did not in fact have minds. He argued that their actions could be reduced to physical phenomenon and nothing of the mind could be observed in them. What they lacked that humans had, he argued, was language. Several criticisms are raised centred around this belief. One prime criticism is raised when one considers the theory of evolution. Evolution proposes that transmutation occurs in species, this is the altering of one species into another. Founder of this theory, Charles Darwin, proposed that the human race evolved from apes. This means that at one point in our natural history, we were what most would consider animals. This means that according to Descartes we were once without mind. This then poses the vital question, when and how did we acquire a mind? Descartes was well before Darwin, so he was never faced with this problem himself. He most likely held a creationist point of view and even if he did believe in evolution he would account for the acquisition of mind using God. But in our modern society backed by scientific proofs, the theory of evolution poses a great threat to Descartes theory of mindless animals that a God based cop out cannot avoid.
Marked Grade: A
Descartes highlighted 3 essential differences between the mind and body. He argued that the body was divisible and extended where as the mind was not; basically he believed that the body was spatial and the mind was not. You cannot cut the mind in half; it is not quantitative such as the body. He also contended that the mind was a thinking thing whilst the body was not.
The first and foremost problem facing any substance dualist, is how exactly the non-spatial and immaterial mind has an effect on the spatial and material body. It is clear that the mind and body are connected in some way as when I see something the thought of it enters my mind, but how exactly the immaterial can have any sort of effect on the material (and vies versa) is unimaginable. Having said that, Descartes believed that there was a two way connection between the mind and body, but his explanation for how they connect is far from satisfactory, involving a system of ‘animal spirits’ who stimulate the pineal gland in the brain thus having an effect on the mind. Whilst providing a sophisticated (for his time) model of the nervous system, Descartes still fails to clearly illustrate the essential connection between mind and body. There is no visible link between them. It seems a bit of a leap to me, to assume that the mind and body are connected after declaring that all we can know is that we have a mind. If this be the case, then it is wrong of Descartes to assume this connection because having a body and there being a connection between it and the mind is not a predicate of having a mind.
Descartes believed that mind and body were essential to each other, just like a car and its fuel are. Without the fuel, the car is going nowhere and without the car the fuel is serving no purpose. He supposed that the body was what allowed the mind to function, but not exist. The mind could exist independently, but not function within this reality without the body. From this, one would assume that any being with a body could possess a mind. But on the contrary, Descartes contended that though animals did have the necessary bodily organs with which to think, they did not in fact have minds. He argued that their actions could be reduced to physical phenomenon and nothing of the mind could be observed in them. What they lacked that humans had, he argued, was language. Several criticisms are raised centred around this belief. One prime criticism is raised when one considers the theory of evolution. Evolution proposes that transmutation occurs in species, this is the altering of one species into another. Founder of this theory, Charles Darwin, proposed that the human race evolved from apes. This means that at one point in our natural history, we were what most would consider animals. This means that according to Descartes we were once without mind. This then poses the vital question, when and how did we acquire a mind? Descartes was well before Darwin, so he was never faced with this problem himself. He most likely held a creationist point of view and even if he did believe in evolution he would account for the acquisition of mind using God. But in our modern society backed by scientific proofs, the theory of evolution poses a great threat to Descartes theory of mindless animals that a God based cop out cannot avoid.
Marked Grade: A
posted by Yours Truly at 3:56 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home