Just wondering what you opinions about Dualism.
Basically its a theory that our mind is separate from our bodies and does not exist in space and time. I believe Descartes was the first philosopher to discuss this.
Do you believe in this theory or not and why? What are the consequences.
| Jumpy wrote: |
Just wondering what you opinions about Dualism.
Basically its a theory that our mind is separate from our bodies and does not exist in space and time. I believe Descartes was the first philosopher to discuss this.
Do you believe in this theory or not and why? What are the consequences. |
It is not a theory in any useful sense, it is better described as a philosophical position. It's origins date back well before Descartes and you could consider the ancient Greeks Pre-Socratic distinction between appearance and reality and, later, Plato's distinction between forms and the world.
Cartesian Dualism is a type of Substance Dualism (to be precise, it is correctly known as Cartesian Interactionist Dualism). and so it is incorrect to say that the theory holds that mind is not substantive - Descartes never said that. Cartesian dualism holds that the mind is a different type of substance - typically called 'mind substance' and 'matter substance'.
Regards
ChrisPersonally, I recognize three parts of myself:
My body, my mind, and my spirit.
What the body is is obvious enough, thats my hands, legs, liver, et cetera.
My mind is the part of me that performs calculations, stores data, interprets sensations et cetera. It overlaps my body with the brain, which is part of both.
Then there's my spirit; its the part of me some would call the soul. Thats the part that actually does the thinking, that decides weather to give into the body and mind's desires; the part of me that will cause my body and mind pain for being what they are; the part of me that would rather be a horse.
This may, however, be a little flawed. One example is how my spirit looses all being while I'm unconscious. (Though, not while sleeping, it is interesting to note.)
| ocalhoun wrote: |
Personally, I recognize three parts of myself:
My body, my mind, and my spirit.
What the body is is obvious enough, thats my hands, legs, liver, et cetera.
My mind is the part of me that performs calculations, stores data, interprets sensations et cetera. It overlaps my body with the brain, which is part of both.
Then there's my spirit; its the part of me some would call the soul. Thats the part that actually does the thinking, that decides weather to give into the body and mind's desires; the part of me that will cause my body and mind pain for being what they are; the part of me that would rather be a horse.
This may, however, be a little flawed. One example is how my spirit looses all being while I'm unconscious. (Though, not while sleeping, it is interesting to note.) |
Seems more than a little flawed I feel.
Thinking - surely this is the function of the mind ? In fact, I can give you a pile of links which will show experimentally and theoretically that it is and demonstrate the physical causes and mechanisms behind the 'choices' between options available.
The mind is more than an analogy of a CPU in a computer. It is also the backing store as well as the dynamic and static memory. Choices are a physiological result of the operation of the brain responding to stimulii in the light of stored information and previous experience.
You could be more specific and say it is the 'conscience-like' part of the consciousness, but even then there is quite a bit of data to suggest that guilt is a biophysical process....it is certainly debatable....
http://www.orgonomy.org/article_terrorism_biophys_konia.html
http://www.home.duq.edu/~thames/humcomm/physio.htm#edwards1
http://www.quazen.com/Science/Social-Sciences/Physiological-Facet-of-Emotion.1119
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscience
Regards
ChrisI'm not out there to prove anything here (for once), that's just how I feel that I work. I won't even really propose that the spirit I refer to is not another function of the brain (in fact, it ceasing to function when I'm blacked out would support that), however, I do recognize that the part of me that calculates 5+2 is different than the part of me that is composing this message.
When I figure out what 5+2 is, I see myself as putting that question to my mind, and letting it come up with the answer. Perhaps this is not normal; I'm pretty sure I'm not sane anyway (most sane people don't take knives to themselves on purpose).
| ocalhoun wrote: |
...I do recognize that the part of me that calculates 5+2 is different than the part of me that is composing this message.
When I figure out what 5+2 is, I see myself as putting that question to my mind, and letting it come up with the answer... |
I'm not really sure I understand what you are saying? What I got was that one "part" of you calculates and another "part" of you makes decisions. If that is correct, it's pretty broad.Well, yes, part of me is reading your post and translating it into thought, while another part of me is deciding if and how to respond. One part of me will store this (the memory of this post) for later retrieval and another part of me will access it later if needed.
I would agree with what you said, however, the "soul" does not think, it is what is behind the scenes, "pulling the strings of the mind." So, the mind is the one that thinks for the body, in that it is also apart of it. The mind is what sets a human from a(n) -put an animal in here-.
Psycho-symatic illness and hypochondria
The mind and the body are linked, one can feel better by thinking that you are better and vice versa. Also if a patient has had a trauma and doesnot have the will to "fight" then the body deteriorates.
One feels sick even though there is nothing medically wrong. the person will only feel better if they have medication to take. I have fooled someone into thinking that a sweet (candy) is medication and made them feel better.
The mind is a wonderful thing, so complex.
| Jumpy wrote: |
Just wondering what you opinions about Dualism.
Basically its a theory that our mind is separate from our bodies and does not exist in space and time. I believe Descartes was the first philosopher to discuss this.
Do you believe in this theory or not and why? What are the consequences. |
It's hard to discuss this. I mean I feel like there is the collective human brain or mind. Something, a consciousness which isn't in the individuals body. I think we can tap into this when we arent' thinking. I mean when thought stops. Have you ever had your thought stop?
I think during those times one can read the entire history of man. It's all there in the collective. Does this sound nuts? Maybe you shouldn't buy it.
But I don't believe in anything. This isn't voodoo. It's awareness. We're so conditioned it's hard to see. Our brains never give us any rest. It's like if thought stops we'd die. That's not true.
M
