Mind-Body Dualism

A well-known variant of dualism, which originated in ancient times, is attributed to Rene Descartes of the 17th century. According to him, humans are made up of two very different elements that cannot coexist. Dualism is the belief that the mind and body exist as distinct entities. There is a two-way contact between the mental and physical entities, according to Descartes, and he argued that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. In theology, dualism believes that the universe (or reality) comprises two fundamental, opposing, and irreducible principles that account for all that exists. It has had a significant impact on the history of philosophy and religion.

Dualism history

Dualism may be traced back to Plato and Aristotle and the early Hindu philosophical traditions of Sankhya and Yoga.

René Descartes defined dualism most explicitly in the 17th century. Descartes was the first to articulate the mind-body issue in its current form and associate the mind with consciousness and self-awareness explicitly and differentiate it from the brain, which was the physical seat of intellect. He understood that he could question if he had a body (it may be that he was dreaming of it or an illusion generated by an evil demon). Still, he could not question whether he had a mind, implying that the mind and body must be distinct entities. However, the immaterial mind and the material body causally interact despite being ontologically different things.

Dualism

Dualists in mind philosophy emphasise the fundamental distinction between thought and substance. They all reject that the mind and the brain are the same things, and some even question that the mind is entirely a product of the brain.

Types of dualism

There are several types of dualisms, such as substance dualism, property dualism, predicate dualism, epistemological dualism, property dualism. These property dualisms are classified into three major types: interactionism, occasionalism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism.

Substance dualism (or cartesian dualism) asserts that the mind is an independently existent substance; the mind has no extension in space, and the substance cannot think. This is the sort of dualism most notably argued by Descartes. It is consistent with most theologies that assert eternal souls exist in a separate “realm” of existence from the physical world.

Predicate dualism contends that more than one predicate (how we characterise the subject of a proposition) is necessary to make sense of the universe. Physical predicates of natural languages cannot be redescribed (or reduced) to our psychological experiences.

The theory in epistemology known as epistemological dualism (also known as representationalism or indirect realism) states the property dualism (also known as token physicalism), which holds that the mind is a collection of discrete traits that originate from the brain rather than a distinct entity. Thus, mental qualities develop when matter is arranged appropriately (that is, in the manner in which live human bodies are formed).

Interactionism is the concept that mental factors (such as thoughts and wants) may result in material results and vice versa. Descartes believed that this connection took place physically in the pineal gland.

Occasionalism holds that a material foundation for the contact between the material and immaterial is unattainable and that the interactions were genuinely generated by God’s involvement on each specific occasion. Nicholas Malebranche primarily advocated this viewpoint.

Kantianism

There is a dichotomy between actions committed by desire and those undertaken by liberty, according to Immanuel Kant’s philosophy (categorical imperative). As a result, neither matter nor freedom is responsible for all physical activities. Some behaviours are essentially animal, whereas others are the product of mental action on matter.

Descartes’ Dualism

René Descartes’ most well-known philosophical work is Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Descartes refers to the mind as thinking rather than an extended object in the Sixth Meditation. He characterises the body as an extended object rather than a thinking thing (1980, p. 93). “But who am I then?” A thinking thing. What exactly is it? “Something that imagines and senses, as well as doubts, comprehends, affirms, denies, wills, and rejects.” (1980). “I list the [extended] thing’s different aspects,” Buddha says in the Fifth Meditation, expanding on the notion of extension. These parts have a variety of sizes, shapes, places, and motions from one spot to another; these movements have a variety of durations.” (1980) But it’s not just about physicality.

Arguments against dualism

The concept of causal interaction is one of the arguments against dualism. If consciousness (the mind) may exist independently of physical reality (the brain), it is necessary to explain how physical memories about consciousness are formed. As a result, dualism must explain how awareness influences physical reality. One of the fundamental criticisms of dualistic interactionism is that it fails to explain how the tangible and immaterial may interact.

Conclusion

Dualism is the belief that the mind and body exist as distinct entities. René Descartes was the first to articulate the mind-body issue in its current form. Dualism may be traced back to the early Hindu philosophical traditions of Sankhya and Yoga. They all deny that the mind is the same as the brain, and some even argue that it is not existentially separate from the brain. There are several types of dualism. These property dualisms are classified into three major types: interactionism, occasionalism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism. René Descartes’ most well-known philosophical work is Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). He describes the mind as thinking rather than an extended object.