The Dualism of Mind and Brain - Book Report/Review Example

The Dualism of Mind and Brain The study of philosophy has been overly accredited in its many successes in defining and understanding many aspects of human existence. However, all philosophers will attest that although they seem to have covered milestones in the field, there is one particular aspect that they have never quite understood; the complexity of the human intelligence. One of the greatest debates in philosophy related to the human intelligence is the mind/brain theories. For centuries, philosophers have tried to establish the link between these two, a debate that led to the eruption a split between them. Some claim that the mind is non-existent; others claim the mind and brain cooperate to bring about intelligence. Further studies into human intelligence surround the development and complexity of human language which in comparison to all other animals’ language is quite unique and high-tech. These two controversies will form the basis of this study text. Mind and brain Chapter 14 in the book “Who are” by Pojman Louis is dedicated to explaining the mind-brain controversy which takes to two partitions of monism and dualism. The dominant dualist theories as explained by Descartes, Augustine, and Plato are challenged by other philosophers such as Daniel Dennett and Patricia Churchland who are supporters of the monist theories. The controversy arises from the dualist understanding of the brain, which defines the brain as existing in two forms; material and mental. The material form of the brain is defined as a body which is a material (solid) entity, is three-dimensional, occupies space, can be measured, can be observed by other parties apart from the owner, and results in some actions which rely on invariant laws of physics, particularly mechanics. On the other hand, the mental definition of the brain takes away all these properties and attributes the mind with consciousness as an intangible thing, occupies no space, is observable by only the owner, is immeasurable, and dos not adhere to any laws of physics. The dominant difference between the two is that while medical practitioners can directly touch and operate on the brain, only the owner of the mind can think using it, experience emotions, feel pain or know their beliefs and desires (226). Dualism occurs through what is called dualistic interactionism, which is a correlation between the mind and brain. The mind caters for intelligence, which in turn affects the brain to enable a function. For instance, as Louis (226) explains, if one steps on a nail, some things happen; one withdraws the foot of the nail, and two, thinks of some way to heal the wound or prevent further complication such as tetanus infection. The mind feels the pain, tells the brain to move the foot, then the brain feels relief, and the brain tells one to get a bandage. Then there is monism which is defended by a materialistic approach of things. To explain himself better, Louis gives a case example of one Phineas Gage, who during a road construction was penetrated by an iron road through the brain and though he lived through it, he had some alteration in his humanity. After the said accident, Louis (234) explains that Phineas “… was transformed from a friendly, intelligent leader into an intemperate, unreliable, childish ox…” What the example was meant to tell us is that the “mind” is just but a function of the brain, and is evident in that after the brain was injured, even mental processes and characteristics changed. The same can be observed if the brain is affected by disease as is depicted by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Monism supports that all brain functions, even mental, depend on the physical brain; “Guilt is merely the vestigial remnant of primitive neural configurations in the amygdala, love, a leftover of primitive constructions in the hippocampus, and the moral sense, a survival of reptilian brain configurations” (237). Language and Mind Noam Chomsky’s book “language and the human mind” strives to interpret thus understand the attributes of the brain that contribute to the complex language we have, and what makes it stand out above all other apes, and general animal kingdom. The questions he raises regarding this unique language is whether it is an innate quality in humans or it evolved through different stages before it got to the level it is at. According to Chomsky (59), one Karl Popper suggests that the human language evolved through stages which include a high and low stage; the lower stage mode of communicating applied gestures while the higher stage applied sound in communicating thoughts and emotions. However, his explanation is weak in that it provides no definite link between the two distinct stages. The other possible explanation is given by W.H., Thorpe, who revealed that it is only human beings who possess sound-imitation abilities of all mammals known, but that human and animal languages have propositional, syntactic, and purpose similarities. Propositional in that language transmits information, syntactic in that utterance relies on an internal organization with coherence and structure, and purpose in that every utterance demand of being heard, or understood by others (60). Contrary to the above definitions, Chomsky argues that there is much more to human language than just a purpose in that it can also be used to detect one’s cleverness, can be used to play, and apart from informing, can also be used for misleading. What Chomsky is trying to say is that the uniqueness of human language can only be attributed to one quality in humans; and that is a complex mental organization. Concisely, it is the complexity of the human brain. Further controversy arises in defining what makes up that unique quality of language through the brain; is it an innate quality or it depends on experience as seen in the trait of language acquisition? This question is hard to answer since a clear understanding of the human mind’s functioning is still unclear “… the study of acquisition of knowledge for many years seem to have no special status among the many possibilities that one might imagine as to how the mind functions” (70). All in all, studying the human language can create channels that may open up some more insight into the working of the human mind. Evaluation and conclusions The two books’ reviews both try to provide understandings in the function or ability of the human brain to possess intelligence. The first source discusses the theories of dualism and monism which tug in the reasoning of whether the intelligence arises from the brain as a single unit or whether the correlation between the mind and brain lead to its overall functioning. The second source utilizes the unique and complex qualities of human language in trying to define the “unique mental organization” which caters for such attributes. There is similarity in both sources in that each attests to the understanding of the human brain’s function as being a hard nut to crack. In conclusion, it is sufficient to justify that although convincing discoveries have been made concerning the brain, the philosophical study and understanding of it is far from over. Works Cited Chomsky, Noam. Language and Mind. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. Pojman, Louis P. Who Are We?: Theories of Human Nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Read More