Dualism

A detailed Summary of Dualism

I believe that the popular or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism best solves the mind body problem. My views in this area have been influenced by my twelve years of Catholic education. The soul, or mind, depending on your level of belief, was a complete and separate entity and was the center of a human being. The body was an ambulatory device that the soul directed. The idea that the mind is a separate entity and that it is independent of the physical body is the central point of substance dualism.

Churchland explains that substance dualism claims that the mind is a distinct nonphysical thing, a complete nonphysical entity that is independent of any physical body to which it is temporarily attached. Any and all mental states and activities, as well as physical ones, originate from this unique entity. Substance dualism states that the real essence of you has nothing to do with your physical body, but rather from the distinct nonphysical entity of the mind. The mind is in constant interaction with the body. The body's sense organs create experiences in the mind. The desires and decisions of the mind cause the body to act in certain ways. This is what makes each mind's body its own.

The second major argument for substance dualism is irreducibility. This points to a variety of mental phenomena that no physical explanation could account for what is going on. An example would be the quality and meaningful content of human thoughts and beliefs. These things cannot be reduced to purely physical terms, hence irreducibility. This is also another good argument that I can understand from personal experiences. I cannot reduce my reactions and feelings toward how a steak tastes to a mathematical equation. This is the same idea.

These arguments give a good basis for a philosopher to believe in substance dualism. However there are also serious arguments against it. The first major argument against dualism is simplicity. Materialists state that because their view is simpler (they only believe in one thing- that which is physical) it is more rational to subscribe to their view. The materialist point of view is also easier to prove because there is no doubt that physical matter exists, while nonphysical matter is currently a hypothesis. This argument seems very illogical to me. Philosophical views should be chosen because one makes more sense to you, not because one has a smaller number of ideas within it.

lar or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism states that a person is a "ghost in a machine", the ghost being the mind or

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Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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Dualism

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