Maintenance of the Idea of the Soul Body Union - Essay Example

Soul Introduction I propose in this essay to study and examine the philosophy of mind and body and explain the theories given by Aristotle and Descartes regarding the interaction between the mind and body. The issues that generate from their theories, that how mind combines with the body to make a human being or any living thing that exist. In this paper, I am discussing the questions and their reasons and answers, that arise in human minds, like how does the issue generates that mind and body exists without each other? The theory by Descartes explains that there are two aspects of this understanding. One is religious, and the other is scientific. Aristotle’s theory presents the idea that mind and body are interlinked and have no means of existence alone. Aristotle’s Body / Soul Distinction Theory As a biologist, Aristotle thinks that the soul is not an eviction from a better world to another world, but the soul’s essence is linked with its relationship to an organic structure. Aristotle considered the fundamentals of reality in the twelve books of Metaphysics. Aristotle also argued against some aspects of Plato’s forms. He rejected the concept of independent existence. Aristotle represented a theory about experience of what happens, and why things happen that way. The theory explains that our body and mind are connected to each other and they cannot be separated or treated so. ‘Body is a matter of a person,’ according to Aristotle, and our psyche or soul is a form of a person, the structure and characteristics. The theory of Aristotle based upon the argument that the nature of the soul we have depends upon the type of our organism. He tried to explain the hierarchy of souls. For example, plants have a soul concerning powers of nutrition, growth and reproduction, which is according to their kinds. Similarly, animals have appetites and they have desires and feelings, which make them move and survive. Talking about human souls, the human soul stands at the top of the soul’s hierarchy. This can be explained as an eye with sight. If the sight is taken away there is no means of an eye. It is no longer a real eye. A bird without its wings is no longer a bird as it is unable to fly. The reason of existence, a reason to be alive is what makes a creature what it is (Zalta). Death of a man makes him no longer a man; it has lost its capabilities to do the things he used to. It is nothing but only a ‘matter’ after death. Therefore, the body and soul cannot be separated they are one thing. Aristotle also says that the soul is not immortal, it is merely a form of a person; it makes a person from a matter to a human. Aristotle’s theory explains that the soul’s different parts are the sectors, which are distinguished by their functions. Growing and feeling, these are two activities One’s power is different from another activity’s power. Similarly, the sense of sight differs from the hearing sense, not because they are apparently different from each other, but the colors that eyes see are different from the sound that ears hear. Also, there can be a common sensation felt called ‘Motion’, which can be seen by eyes and also heard by ears. Besides five senses there is a central sense, analyzing their functionalities, later it was claimed that these senses’ operations together makes ‘inner senses’. The inner senses are memory and imagination. In animals, there is one sense at least, ‘touch’ that is universal. Hence, animals have feelings and desire too. Humans have the power, of reason and thought, called the rational soul. The way that Aristotle arranged and described the soul and its faculties, changed the philosophy and science, for about two millennia. It can be summed up that by ‘parts’ of the body, Aristotle means the separable faculties of powers, including perception, mind, nutrition and desire. Aristotle further introduced a distinction between kinds of mind. He says, there are two kind of minds, one is passive mind and another is an active mind. The passive mind is, that can become all things and the active mind that can do all the things. Aristotle says the active mind is separable and unmixed. In the Middle Ages, this topic was differently interpretative. According to the Arabs, in the Middle Ages, the active mind was associated with the God, or with some superhuman powers. Whereas, Latin commentators took Aristotle’s mind’s theory in a way that the passive mind is basically a storehouse of beliefs and ideas. And an active mind is which generates concepts. According to the Latin interpretation, Aristotle’s theory is recognizing the human soul separable from the body, and is mortal (Bolton). Aristotle, where mind and body are not identical and they are in mental or non-physical phenomena, also defines dualism. He explains the relationship between mind and matter (body). Monatic theory suggests that soul and body are not two different substances. They are not separate from each other. Philosophers other than Aristotle, like Hobbs and Hegel are also second this thought that the mind is nothing more than a bodily function. Whereas, some idealists like Berkeley, Schopenhauer and Leibniz, collectively think different. They believe that the body is a mental representation. Descarte’s Theory Of Mind-Body Distinction Descartes’ theory arises questions on how can a mind unite with a body to make a life exist. Assessing his theory shows that there are some misconceptions about it, as the correct conception about the mind-body reunion is avoided in the problematic version. Descartes explains real distinction, as a technical term that denotes a distinction within two or more substances. A substance can exist alone; it does not require any other creature to exist. For example, Stone. A stone can exist fully by itself and it characteristics are not dependent upon the mind or body. Descartes explains that if God chose to, he could build up a whole world consisting of stones and a stone is a substance that is actually distinct from everything else in the world, except God. After presenting this theory and arguing on the philosophy of mind and body, Descartes reaches this conclusion that body and mind can exist without one another. This argument is purposely giving rise to the problem of mind-body interaction, that is still debated on, that how can a mind causes our body parts to move. Such an interaction causes a debate that how can our mind interact with our body-parts and how can our body cause sensations in the mind when they are completely different (“Descartes and the Mind-Body Problem”). Descartes theory is also based on solving the issues that arise regarding mind and body interaction and existence. For this, he has suggested two different concepts; first is religious and the second is scientific. The religious people and scholars believe that the soul is immortal and it is really distinct from the body. They believe in soul’s immortality without any scientific demonstration or mathematical calculation. Descartes himself believes that the destruction of the body does not necessarily imply on the mind, the mind may survive the destruction of the body. This belief provides a foundation for the religious aspect of the afterlife. The scientific reasons for why a soul or mind can exist without a body also stand the idea that the body does not need mentality, thoughts, goals and knowledge to move. He explains that there is a room for an opinion in a religious way as well as scientific manner. So he explained his theory by the help of these two factors. As I see Descartes’ theory, he responses to the mind-body problem by describing it in two parts. One part of the problem is, explaining the union between the soul or mind and the body. Second part is comprised of a question that how can two different natures interact and perform functions involving each other; body and mind. Descartes, however, does not maintain in his book about the bodily movements and the sensations arising due to the interactions of body and mind. However, he maintains the mind-body union theory. Descartes considered human mind as the only substance that exist alone. In some of his letters, Descartes also claimed that the soul is substantially united, with a human body. Referring this as a technical term, he meant that there is a union between matter and substantial form to create a complete form of life. Conclusion Going through both the theories and philosophies, I can assess that the theory presented by Aristotle is more practical and scientifically proven as he maintains his statements of mind-body union, whereas it is seen that Descartes’ theory lacks maintenance of the idea of the soul-body union. Aristotle clearly defines how a soul is not a soul unless it has a body, and how a body cannot be a living thing without a soul. Aristotle has also used theory of metaphysics to certify the reasons of dualism and materialism. He says that anything that is changeable and is in a substantial form is necessary not to be a material. For Descartes, the soul does not depend on the body and states that the soul is immortal. Works Cited Bolton, Robert. Aristotles Definitions of the Soul: "De Anima" ii, 1-3. U.S: Brill, 2011. Print. "Descartes and the Mind-Body problem." 2014. New York University Web. 27 May 2014 . Zalta, Edward N. "The Active mind of De Anima iii." 2010. Stanford University. 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