The Case for Mental State in Relation to the Normal Organic Brain and Non-organic Brain - Essay Example

 The Case for Mental State in Relation to the Normal Organic Brain and Non-organic Brain Abstract Consciousness is one of the determinants of mental states in an individual. An immaterial soul and lacking an organic heart make a person qualify to have no mental states. Conversely, a heart different from the organic heart have same capabilities as the organic heart, which contributes to mental states. Body The issue of consciousness is as perplexing as it is mysterious. In this case, determining the consciousness of an individual involves a variety of philosophical deductions that result to determining whether the person has a mental state or has no mental state. In effect, different experts in the fields of philosophy and medicine will arrive at different deductions on the mental states of patients using different approaches. In the case presented, it is evident that the doctors took these different approaches based on their philosophical principles. In effect, the deductions are different, and they vary from one doctor to the other doctor. In my analysis, it is evident that the patient presented in this case is aware of her state of mind since she observes that she has been doing well since she regained her conscious following the accident. However, the doctors have held the patient in hospital in order to run more tests on the patient despite the declaration by the doctor. Hence, it is my opinion that the patient has mental states since her behavior prior and after the accident is behavior that fits the description of being defined as normal. Conscious is important, and it must exist in an individual. In fact, without conscious an individual will not be able to distinguish between behavior that was normal and that was not normal. In line with this, an individual will not recognize whether they were fine and they had recovered from the state of unconsciousness that they had suffered. In line with this, my friend appears to be conscious of her health status since she indicated that the she had been feeling fine for the last few days. In this regard, my friend’s indication that she has been fine for the last few days is an indicator that she knows that she was not feeling fine for other days. Hence, she recognizes that she has recovered, and she is ready to go home because her state of health had improved over the last days. In effect, this is an indication that she has sensations since she can feel that she had been unwell, which indicates that she is conscious of her surroundings and health. In addition, she is also able to reason that her health status has improved. As a human being, my friend is conscious, and it is proof that she has mental states since she can reason and feel the changes that have been happening with regard to her health. The first doctor’s approach in arriving at the conclusion uses the deduction that the patient does not have an immaterial soul. This concept of an immaterial soul is ambiguous to the second and third doctors, and only the first doctor ppears to be aware of the concept. In my opinion, I think that the first doctor’s assertion of an immaterial soul can be analyzed using two different approaches. In the first of these approaches, the doctor might have disassociated the brain, which is identical to the soul, from the body. This is similar to Descartes philosophical viewpoint where he disassociates the mind from the body. In effect, Descartes goes ahead to consider these as distinct with each having different essences (Lecture Notes, “Week 7_1”). In this case, the doctor thinks that the soul of this patient is immaterial and effectively makes the patient fail to have a mental state. I agree with the doctor on disassociating the body from the brain. However, the doctor’s conclusion regarding the immaterial soul in the patient is an issue I do not agree with and support. In this case, there are no specifics of arriving at this conclusion, which implies that the doctor’s uses certainty in a similar way to Descartes' use of certainty. On the other hand, the doctor might be arguing from a point of view regarding the fact that the patient had been unconscious and only appears to have risen from a point whereby her soul did not have any material form or substance. For this reason, the doctor might have concluded that a soul that does not have material form or substance does not have an extension, which makes the doctor conclude that the patient was not in mental states. In addition, the doctor seems to imply that the state of unconsciousness, which the patient experienced after the accident, has some semblance of death. In effect, the patient appears to have lost her soul, or the soul became immaterial, leading to the conclusion that the patient does not have a mental state since the soul and the brain are identical. On this point, I agree with the doctor’s observation that the brain and the soul are identical. In addition, it is evident that when a person dies, the soul becomes immaterial since it lacks substance. In effect, such a personal will not have a mental state. However, my point of departure from agreeing with this doctor concerns the fact that the patient did not die,, but lapsed into a state of unconsciousness after her involvement in an accident. The third doctor agrees with the first doctor that the patient did not have mental states. In this case, the doctor believes that the accident resulted to a situation whereby the patient’s brain was damaged, and that was the reason she lapsed into a state of unconsciousness. Therefore, this state of unconsciousness occasioned the patient’s loss of the organic brain according to the third doctor. At this point, I want to agree with the doctor that the absence of an organic heart may indicate that an individual did not have mental states. However, there are instances that a person would not have an organic heart and yet have a mental state. An examination carried out by the doctors involved in the patient’s case identified a non-organic digital computer playing the role of a heart. In effect, the presence of the patient’s use of a non-organic digital computer is tantamount to a patient’s lack of mental states. In this regard, the doctor associates a mental state as one that can only exist if a person had an organic heart. However, this is not the case since I believe that a non-organic digital computer can play this role in an effective way. Hence, this is my point of departure in agreeing with the doctor since the non-organic digital computer will play the role similar to the organic brain. To underline this point, it is essential to consider the observation by the patient that her condition had improved in recent days. In this case, she uses her non-organic digital computer to make this observation, which is an indicator that she has mental states. The second doctor is the one that makes sense to me, and he is the one that I agree with entirely regarding the mental states of the patient. In this regard, the doctor indicates that what is in the patient’s head has an equal capacity with a normal brain of a human. In this case, the patient has the ability to feel and reason about their improved health condition (Lecture Notes, “Week 7_2”). In effect, the ability to feel and reason indicates that the non-organic digital computer functions in a similar way to a human brain. In effect, the digital computer enables the patient to feel and reason in a similar way as she did before the accident happened. Hence, this makes it more reasonable to think that the patient had mental states. Briefly, it is more reasonable to think that the patient has mental states than to think that she did not have mental states. In this regard, this patient was aware of her condition before and prior to the accident, and she indicates observing improvements in her health status. Effectively, this observation is an indication that she can feel and reason, which are indicators of a sensible person who has mental states. However, her non-organic digital computer should not be a basis to argue about her lack of mental states since the gadget operated in similar capabilities with a normal human heart. Read More