Philosophy of the Mind - Admission/Application Essay Example

Philosophy of the Mind Introduction The topic of philosophy of the mind (dualism) which is referred to as soul has over the centuries been marred by controversy. The existence of the soul has been put to question and its relation with the body has also been put to scrutiny. Quite a number of philosophers and researchers have attempted to come up with conclusive reports on the matter. Dualism is therefore closely associated with the views forwarded by a French philosopher, Rene Descartes who held that the mind is not a physical substance. Descartes objectively identified the human mind with a lot of awareness as well as self-consciousness. He argued that mind is very different from the brain (Robinson 85-101).This essay attempts to provide the rationale of the philosophical concept of dualism. Philosophical arguments relating to composition of dualism What then is dualism? As contained in the dialogue Phaedo, the famous Greek philosopher Plato constituted his popularly theory that relates to forms as substances that are distinct and in essence immaterial. Plato therefore put it vividly in the dialogue that the Forms are fundamentally ideal universals that enables human persons to have a comprehensive understanding of his own world. Plato's forms of dualism are demonstrates that non-physical and non-mental forms does not exist in space, time and more convincingly the mind. As argued by Plato even the human person as portrayed by Swinburne generally thinks that souls have feelings and belief. In relation to this, the body and the soul are two distinct things with no natural and meaningful connection that are features of unity. The existence of their relationship if any may only be described as nominal and coincidental. It may then be argued that the any interaction and vital connection that may characterize the two is basically superficial (Robinson 85-101). Another great Greek philosopher Aristotle comes in to fill the vacuum by putting forth his own argument that human person has forms which illustrates the soul as a form and the body as matter. He strongly holds to the opinion that that the substantial understanding of the body and soul should enable a human being to contend to the fact that it is more than just a mere interdependence and interrelation two distinct substances. This he explained in De Anima where he said that “So every natural body which pertakes life would be a substance of the composite kind”. Acknowledging the existence of such a body, the soul would then not qualify to be called a body for a body should in essence not belong to any subject but should essentially exist as a matte (Searle, 457). In addition to that the soul must exist as a substance that takes the form of natural body that has the potentiality of life which must display actuality. It is in this aspect that the soul is the actuality of the body. So based on his opinion, the soul is a function of an organized body and therefore is not a subject of independency and separate existence. Aristotle has therefore provided a more distinct and complex understanding of the relationship between the body and the soul, but as portrayed in his reasoning, the soul is not eternal but only generated thus a fundamental subject of time. It may then be objective to say argue that Aristotle had functionalism ideologies. Functionalism may be defined as antithesis of the concept of dualism that states that human person mind is non existent and does not believe in the existence of mental states that are in apparent similarity to physical states. Such notion is broadly acknowledged among the modern day philosophers, However, owing to their total concern about the nature of physical substance and its relative organization, they have been evading the epicenter of the issue, thus the mental substance and its conceptual relationship with the physical one, which brings a point of weakness in their philosophical thoughts. According to Searle (417-457), the controversy as per the existence of the soul in perpetuated further by the issue of Enlightenment. As argued by Descartes, the human person generally consists of body and soul. What Descartes means by body is in sharp contrast to the Aristotle’s conception as he argued that the human mind is intimately united with the body. This shows that it is not the human body that makes and gives character to a person. This belief therefore mandates Descartes to acknowledge the view that other beings other than human ones are the only animals with consciousness. What emerges out of arguments forwarded by Descartes is that he has no clear and comprehensive explanations relating to body for he argued that the mind is not directly affected by the soul. This argument by Descartes is very controversial in the sense that it is widely believed that there is a causal interaction between the physical composition and the mind. According to his views, it would then be justified to say that the mind is generally a physical being. The failure of Plato and Descartes to explain the essential and natural relationship between the body and soul raises another field of opposition against dualism thus materialism. The core of human civilization in the contemporary world that has been adopted by many philosophers is materialism. Materialist therefore widely believe that a human being is his own body and thus what is widely understood as the human mind is overtly nothing but just a bodily ideological concept. As held by the materialists, human person should be understood in relation to the prevailing physical conditions. Such opinion has been widely held for a long time and can be traced from the times of early philosophers such as Lucretius and La Place. Descartes dualistic idea combined with materialism produced what is referred to as behaviorism thus the rise of identity theory which forms part of materialism. As mentioned by Churchland (76-81), behaviorists therefore are of the opinion that mental states, sensations as well as mental states have a lot of identity with what is found in the brains. But materialism has a lot of challenges compared to dualism, thus one main point of objection concerns how human person can convincingly explain the existence of human thoughts. It is therefore a mystery to relate thoughts to the human feelings that may encompass love and hate or a blend of reactions in regard to materials that occurs in the human body. The concept of materialism has many challenges as its philosophical quantification is not easy. In the event that materialism holds some substantial truth, what then emerges is the measurement of its dimensions as demonstrated by the feelings of thoughts as well as other mental states. Materialism as a way of explaining the existence of dualism is also at crossroads as the other philosophical theories. Other lines of philosophical thoughts that offer to challenge the concept of dualism include idealism. However, such philosophical thoughts have the same degree of challenges as others in their attempts the relationship between the body and the soul (Wilson 495-513). According to Descartes, the mind is a thinking thing which is an immaterial substance. The thinking thing is what provides the self to the human person thus that which can hope, think and do a number of things. The difference between the body and the mind as discussed by Descartes relates to a distinct idea of the self. He therefore argues that the mind which is thinking thing can as well exist in separate to its extended body, thus the mind is primarily a thing very different from the body. It is a substance whose fundamental value is thought. It is the fundamental claim that is popularly referred to as Cartesian dualism. It is an ideological concept that has a lot of recognition in the contemporary philosophies. It is obvious that mental events are the determinants of physical events. However, the controversy in relation to this concerns how an immaterial mind may have influence over the material body (Beakley & Ludlow et.al, 24-37). Conclusion In conclusion, Plato’s explanation of the idea of human mind that acknowledges two fundamental things in human body and consequently supported by contemporary philosophers such as Descartes has been subjected to a lot of philosophical and scientific opposition. The relationship between the human body and the soul therefore provides a turning point to clear the air on the issue of philosophical dualism. Although materialism and functionalism may be considered as a compromise, they are still marred with many challenges. It may then be said that the ancient philosophical theories relating to the critical issue of dualism are in more ways sensitive to thinking and speaking that are in no way supported philosophically. Works Cited Beakley, B., Ludlow, P.,et.al, The Philosophy of Mind: Classical Problem Contemporary Issues, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1992 Churchland, Paul, Matter and Consciousness, Revised Edition, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988. Robinson, H. "Dualism", in The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind, ed. S. Stich and T. Warfield, Oxford: Blackwell, 2003, pp. 85-101. Searle, J. “Minds, Brains, and Programs,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3 (1990): 417-457. Wilson, M. “Leibniz and Materialism,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 3 (1974): 495-513. Read More