Mind And Body

A detailed Summary of Mind And Body

Mind - body dualism is defined as the mind and the body being separate but connected. Meaning the body is complex and made up of a bunch of different parts. The mind is private and is full of emotions and feelings. In the essay called "Lived Body", by Drew Leder, he says that one of the consequences of Cartesian dualism is our understanding of our bodies as more dead than alive. By this he means that we see and examine the body as if the person were dead. "...the living patient is often treated in a cadaverous or machine-like fashion" (page 121). When a person goes to see a doctor for a medical reason, the physical examination is similar to when a pathologist does an autopsy. "The patient is asked to assume a corpse-like pose, flat, passive, naked, mute" (page 121). Throughout the physical exam, the patient rarely talks because the physician is concentrating on listening for possible heart complications, problems with the lungs or feeling for abnormalities in the stomach. Leder suggests that the doctors treat the patients as machines. "Even when called upon to act or respond, it is largely in the machine-mode; the knee is tapped to provoke reflexes..." (page 121). "At the core of modern medical practice is the Cartesian revelatio

n: the living body can be treated as essentially no different from a machine" (page 121). Leder thinks that this belief will have consequences.

The new understanding of the human body that Leder suggests in order to avoid the problem with Cartesianism is the concept of the 'lived body'. "The term 'lived body' derives from the German Leib. In German, the term Leib is employed when one is referring to living bodies, while the term Korper is used to designate inanimate or dead bodies: the body of a rock, for example, or of a human corpse" (page 122). He says that the body of a living being has a unique construction and it can not be illustrated by the language and ideas used to explain inanimate nature. This is saying once again that the body can not be compared to a machine because each has qualities that are unique to that 'species'. "The lived body is not just one thing in the world, but a way in which the world comes to be" (page 123). Leder gives the example of him becoming thirsty while in the middle of writing this essay. He says that the actions that follow, him rising and walking to the refrigerator, "...can be described in terms of a series of mechanistic events involving neuronal firings, muscular contractions and the like"(page 123). But, he says that if this becam

Some common words found in the essay are:
Drew Leder, Leib German, Leder Cartesian, Mind Ryle, , Rene Descartes, page 121, leder suggests, page 122, lived body, Concept Mind, concept mind ryle, 123 leder, concept mind, cartesian dualism, mind ryle, 'lived body', expected doctors, page 123 leder,

Approximate Word count = 865
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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