Substance Dualism Theory Rehearsal - Essay Example

What is it that defines me, you, and a chair? Let us begin with me. I can conceive myself without my left hand. In case my left hand is cut off in an accident, I would still be who I am. I’ll indeed be handicapped, but that won’t mean I’ll cease to exist. Let’s take another situation. Let me just think I am dead. How will my loved ones react then? It is very much possible for me to conceive the situation. They will feel sad; some will cry. Now, since I am conceiving these thoughts by myself only, I can exist without a body, for it’s conceivable I can be without a body.

Let me now run a thought experiment to back this claim. Suppose I try to conceive my existence by separating myself from my body. In other words, I being a thinking thing envision my body sitting on a chair in front of the computer. The entire process of this thought experiment, it may be noted, is conducted on a metaphysical level aligned with the premises of conceivability. The substance dualist argument is based on three premises:1) If it is conceivable that I can exist without a body, I can exist without a body,2) It is conceivable that I can exist without a body,3) If I can exist without a body, I cannot be a body.

It is now important to connect my thought experiment with these premises. The fact that I succeed in conceiving myself out of my body supports the second premise in that what I can conceive is also possible, because conceivability is a good guide to possibility. In other words, it is my mind that conceives what it conceives, and it can conceive successfully all the possibilities given that the laws of essential properties are not flouted. What do essential properties mean concerning the substance dualism theory?

 To understand this, we should make another thought experiment.