Materialism can be summed up in three theses. The identification thesis equates mind with matter. States and processes of he mind are nothing more than physical states and processes. Materialists consider the mind to encompass the brain and nervous system. Once the mind is reduced onto an aspect of out central nervous system, mental states are considered neurophysiological. The explanation thesis believes that "human and animal behavior is best-fully and most deeply-explained by something physical...in the more contemporary sense of neurochemistry and neurophysiology. Rational or intelligent action is the upshot of processes or activities physically internal to the brain."(Graham, 129) The exclusionist thesis states that human beings possess no special power which regul

Materialists expel superstition from their understanding of human behavior. People cannot be afflicted with a demon that does not exist. They believe, correctly, that mental illnesses come from the brain. Today this view of materialists has been proven with brain chemical altering drugs. All mental related illnesses have been proven to be caused a chemical imbalance in the brain. Therefore the mental aspect of a person can be directly related to their physical balance. Material neurons replace spiritual demons in Materialist and scientific thought. The final virtue of Materialists is that they position the mind so that it may be studies by physical science. The study of the mind is placed within the scope of physical science. Where the study of the mind is concerned, it is no different than the study of the brain. Thus, we should use our knowledge of brain states, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry to understand mental processes and states.

The Materialist thought is probably one of the most practical and provable of the mind-body theories. Science seems to aid the Materialist side in that most research concerning the mind is performed on the brain. The mere fact that mental illnesses have been proven to be rooted in chemical imbalances seems to negate the idea that the mind is separate from the body. If the mind was separate from the body, wouldn't a person's mental experiences be completely unaffected by the conditions of the body? Descartes said that we could live have a mind separate from a body and vice versa. What good is the mind when the body dies or is in deterioration? Elderly people often exhibit signs that the mind has slowed and aged along with the body. What can a mind do without a body to experience its sensations and react to them; nothing. Materialists have a very sound belief in the physical and are so deeply rooted in science that it will take considerable new developments to prov

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