Dualism claims that the mind is separate from the body. This can be broken down into substance dualism and property dualism. Substance dualism, introduced by Rene Descartes, states that the mind is a separate non-physical entity. Descartes believed that people have a physical body and brain and also a non-physical mind. This mind is where all consciousness comes from. Descartes claimed that if you could build an automaton of a monkey, the automaton and the real monkey would be indistinguishable. However, if you built an automaton of a human, the human and the automaton would be different. I think this statement in essence is true. I do not think that an automaton of a human would think

The answer to the question as to which theory I prefer, materialism or dualism is rather difficult. Science supports the theory of materialism much more than dualism, but dualism is better at explaining the difference between us and other organisms. I would have to say, despite the scientific evidence, that I prefer dualism over materialism. It is difficult to overlook the scientific evidence of materialism, but harder still to imagine that I am really not significantly different from a slug. It just seems to me that materialism just can not explain why there is such a difference between humans and other organisms.

Another materialist, Richard Dawkins, claims that humans are merely survival machines for their genes. According to Dawkins, molecules capable of making copies of itself, which Dawkins refers to as a replicator, created defense mechanisms to protect itself. These defense mechanisms eventually evolved into human beings. In Dawkins view humans are merely the protectors of our genes. This theory makes no distinction between a conscious being and an unconscious being. It leaves the question, "At what point does an organism become conscious?". Does an organism suddenly become conscious after it has attained a certain level of complexity, or are even the most basic of organisms conscious? Dawkins claims that this argument is of no real importance, but I think it is rather important. Is it

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Approximate Word count = 955
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)