Dualism/Materialism - Essay Example

Hart seeks to discuss whether or not one would exist even if the body did not (whether an individual could be disembodied). He therefore endeavors to prove dualism by arguing that it is indeed possible for one to be disembodied. According to him, a dualist holds that the mind is a substance, a fact vehemently denied by a mentalist. The mind becomes a separate substance from the body if it does not rely on the body to exist. The writer backs Descartes’ arguments on dualism stating that what is imaginable is possible, and more profoundly, observes that one is capable of imagining disembodiment.

It consequently means, according to Hart, that one could be disembodied, hence dualism (Gertler, 119). Then Hart proceeds and uses the principle of Modus ponens to reason the soundness of this assertion. He finds it faultless and thus claims that the dualism logic from Descartes is correct. He concludes with much confidence that indeed if one is capable of imagining disembodiment, then one could be disembodied. Hart however observes that this logic could be rejected by the 20th Century audience and hence sets out to endear these consequent generations to the dualistic theory.

He blames the unbelief/ skepticism in the 20th Century world on the decline in Christian faith and achievements in the world of natural science. The belief in the existence of immortal souls and immaterial minds has gone down because of the decline in Christianity, he says. People are less believing of the fact of life after death. Moreover, with advances in technology and science, man has since been regarded by the contemporary society as a mere electrochemical force-driven physical engine. To the current scientific world, dualism is a foolish concept of the uneducated and for the ‘rubbish pile of history’ (Gertler, 121).

However, Hart observes that