Dualism Concerns and Issues Essay - 2086 Words

Dualism is a broad term that can encompass many areas within philosophy itself. In aspect to metaphysics, it classifies the types of entities in the world into two subcategories, physical and non physical substance. While this may appear to be a very wide and ambiguous opinion, it becomes very specific in regards to our own existence. Paul Churchland puts it very explicitly in his book Matter and Consciousness, and defines dualism as the idea that, â€Å"the essential nature of conscious intelligence resides in something nonphysical† (Churchland 1). Though dualism is a highly regarded and popular view on the state of existence, its core arguments present an array of problems that detract from the credibility of its†¦show more content†¦Building off his established idea of the Cogito, Descartes continues to formulate an idea of how the world operates. He arrives upon one of the most widely held metaphysical opinions, especially among a majority of the worldâ€℠¢s religions, which is mind-body dualism. Mind-body dualism states that there are two types of entities in the world; those which have extension and measurable qualities such as the body and existing separately is the non physical mind. To support his claim of dualism, Descartes presents a number of arguments that attempt to prove that the mind is separate from his body. Two of his strongest points are from the conceivability argument and divisibility argument. Further reinforcement of his claims comes from the idea of privileged first-person access, where he concludes that only an individual has full access to his own thoughts and state of mind. Descartes’ conceivability argument follows as such (Descartes Meditation 6): 1) I can conceive of my existence without my body. 2) If I can conceive of this possibility then it is logically possible. 3) If it is logically possible that my mind exist independent of my body, then my body and mind are distinct things. While on the surface this may appear to be a very sound argument, some flaws arise upon further inspection. One of the main objections stems from his first premise, primarily from the wordShow MoreRelatedIs Dualism Best? The Nature Of Consciousness? Essay1070 Words   |  5 PagesStudent ID Number: 00180694 November 2rd, 2016 Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy Professor Bayne Dualism Best Explains the Nature of Consciousness The three theories we have discussed so far are the dualism theory of Plato and Descartes, the Aristotelian theory, and the Physicalism (identity) theory of Place and Strong. The identity of consciousness means that if you have the same consciousness, you are the same person, and if not conscience, you are not the same person. The thing thatRead MoreRene Descartes: Cartesian Dualism Essay example1625 Words   |  7 PagesDescartian 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 conclusionRead MoreEssay about Descartes’ Argument from Di visibility1683 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom Divisibility Works Cited Missing Reneà ¬ Descartes’ treatise on dualism, his Meditations on First Philosophy, is a seminal work in Western intellectual history, outlining his theory of the mind and its relation to the rest of the world. The main argument running through the Meditations leads from his universal methodic doubt through his famous cogito, to proofs of dualism, God, and the world. The Cartesian dualism is one of the most influential ideas to come out of the work; the style ofRead MorePhilosophy Essay722 Words   |  3 Pageswhether psychological phenomena can be explained using the methods of neuroscience, evolutionary theory, and computational modeling, respectively. Although these are all closely related fields, some concerns still arise about the appropriateness of importing their methods into psychology. Some such concerns are whether psychology, as the study of individuals as information processing systems (see Donald Broadbent), is autonomous from what happens in the brain (even if psychol ogists largely agree thatRead MoreLife After Death Essay1599 Words   |  7 Pageshumanity has been plagued by the issues surrounding life after death because the only way of truly knowing what happens is to actually experience it, by dying. This means that we can only theorise possible outcomes and discuss key issues such as personal identity or immortality of the soul. Theories about life after death are all interested in whether or not there is a part of the human body which survives the death of all the physical parts and where or when it goes. Dualism states that there is a distinctionRead MoreThe Mind Body Problem, By Rene Descartes Essay1331 Words   |  6 Pagesand scientist. 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All these are amidst the emergence of dualities such as religious fundamentalism and scientificRead MoreThe Mind-Body Problem of Physicalism1731 Words   |  7 Pagesrelated to the physical states, events and processes in our bodies. A long tradition in philosophy has held, with Renà © Descartes, that the mind must be a non-bodily entity: a soul or mental substance. This thesis is called ‘substance dualism’ (or ‘Cartesian dualism’) because it says that there are two kinds of substance in the world, mental and physical or material. The philosophical rival of dualists have been the philosophical doctrine of monism. Monism denies that minds and their bodies are distinctRead MoreLife after Death, Reincarnation, Resurrection and Immortality of the Soul1735 Words   |  7 PagesRichard Swimburne it is coherent to suppose that a person can exist without a body. Swimburne argues that if X can be without Y then X and Y are distinct. 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