ipl-logo

Materialism Vs Dualism Research Paper

1784 Words8 Pages

What is a soul? The Webster Dictionary defines a soul as the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. I also believe a soul is an immaterial part of being. It encompasses all the characteristics of one. It inhabits all that someone is. Without a soul, they would be a lifeless body. The soul is a separate entity from the mind and body. I think most people look at a soul from a religious perspective whereas I look at a soul in a different way. I look at souls in a spiritual perspective rather than a religious one.
Looking between Dualism and Materialism was like comparing free will and determinism. The Materialist had a strictly logical and a strong opposition to the belief in a soul. The Dualist equated mind and soul, independently from the body. The dualism was based upon the idea that mind is a non-physical matter so therefore it is not a separate from the brain. He believed a soul could exist because mind and body could exist without one another. I related heavily to Descartes idea of Dualism rather than that of Materialism, but I did disagree with some of his thinking. I believe a …show more content…

The mind is a psychological space that makes us aware of thoughts and the world around us. Mind represents both the soul and the spirit as part of our essential life. It’s similar to the body in that it is needed for life but it is still its own entity completely. According to Descartes, the body is a material and mechanical thing. He thought of it as a container for the soul. While I can see where he’s coming from, I believe that the soul depends on the body to demonstrate its ability and live rather than just for containment purposes. We wake up every day, go places, read, write, and speak. The reason we are able to wake up and live is because we have a soul within us instilling our ability connecting with our minds and our bodies. I think without the relation none of the components could reach their highest

Show More
Related
213 Words | 1 Pages

He further to response to Princess Elisabeth question by introducing to her what is called (Cartesian Dualism) he uses these to explain to her that the mind, soul and the body are not the same and can never be same, which came to conclude that your mind cannot be your body and your body cannot be your mind. He also explains

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

If the soul cannot possibly begin when a person does, when and where else could the event take place? However, Darrow 's argument is impaired by his incongruous application of the term soul. He mentions that the soul is popularly equated with identity, consciousness and memory, but fails to specify whether it is this notion or another that he uses. (42) Presuming, for the sake of moving forward, that it is this definition he himself adopts, it seems directly in conflict with his belief that the soul would exist outside of the physical body. (43) Darrow 's argument lacks a clear explication of his concept of the soul and, furthermore, it presents a confusing, contradictory account of the soul 's nature and

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

Same as humans, we also don’t need a mind. We are just physical things. Churchland also says that there is no way to prove that there is a mind/ soul. Science can’t prove it. We can think of our mind as a software and you’re brain as a hardware.

Read More
620 Words | 3 Pages

Sherley Ly Professor Matthew PHIL1301 19 February 2018 Essay 2: Descartes At this point, Melinda and Melissa are still on opposing sides of one another, each having their own context of the soul. Based on Descartes's argument, the mind and body are considered as two separate substances. He isn't absolute that he has a body; however, he uses the scholastic definition of a soul. He believes that the soul can be vegetative or rational, meaning it could be unconscious or sensible.

Read More
1561 Words | 7 Pages

The body can exist independently from the soul as a material, extended thing but it is not a thinking thing. The body can only cause sensory perceptions by acting on the soul but otherwise exists as a simple non-thinking thing, fully separate from the soul. Descartes says to Elisabeth, “to conceive of the union between two things is to conceive of them as one single thing,” (Letter 4), suggesting that the body and soul are simultaneously one union of things, enabling the soul and body to affect each other, and fully distinct material and immaterial

Read More
328 Words | 2 Pages

Pictorially Illustrated Reflective Analysis: After having read about some of the human nature in Chapter two in the textbook, I understand and believe Descartes’ theory of the Mind-Body Dualism. I do completely feel as though the mind and body should be conceived of as separate and independent of each other. The mind and the body are two completely separate things that work together to create the human body in all. So the argument here is that how does the mind and body interact?

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

1.6. Materialism is the claim the reality, or being, consist of physical objects and their components. Materialist believes there is one substance, which is matter. Dualism is the claim that both the immaterial and material objects exist. Dualists believe that there are two substances mind and body.

Read More
1919 Words | 8 Pages

Conclusion: The mind is substantively different from the body and indeed matter in general. Because in this conception the mind is substantively distinct from the body it becomes plausible for us to doubt the intuitive connection between mind and body. Indeed there are many aspects of the external world that do not appear to have minds and yet appear none the less real in spite of this for example mountains, sticks or lamps, given this we can begin to rationalize that perhaps minds can exist without bodies, and we only lack the capacity to perceive them.

Read More
357 Words | 2 Pages

The mind and body were constrained by place and space. Descartes Cartesian Dualism was god linking mind and body through innate ideas and pre-ordained by god, free to make your choice, but he knows what you will choose already before you do. The mind and body depended upon god. Although Descartes had three problems with his metaphysics. The first one being his definition

Read More
1520 Words | 7 Pages

In his Sixth Meditation, Descartes argues that (1) mind and body are distinct, and (2) mind and body form a union, in which the mind and body can interact with each other. To better understand a union, take the example of ‘3 meters’: a measurement, i.e., union, formed from the number ‘3’ and the unit ‘meter’. Descartes argues in his Second Meditation that he can conceive of a mind as essentially a thinking thing, not an extended thing. Thus, he argues that a mind can exist without being extended, since extension is not in the essence of a mind. Similarly, he argues in his Fifth Meditation that he can conceive of a body as essentially an extended thing, not a thinking thing.

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

To begin with, Dualism is the philosophical doctrine, first introduced by Rene Descartes, that the Mind and Body are two distinct separate entities. Rene Descartes believed that the Mind and Body were separate entities that were not only independent from one another, but that both were composed of dissimilar elements. Descartes explains that the body, and all its physiological attributes, are composed of “Physical” matter, and as such, dwells in the material realm and abides the laws of Physics or the laws of nature. Conversely, the Mind and all its attributes, thoughts, emotions and qualia, are composed of “Spiritual” matter, and as such, dwells in the immaterial realm and does not abide to the laws of physics or nature.

Read More
2127 Words | 9 Pages

He attributes the soul to the ability to move the body without itself being moved and for running the faculties of the body, which some people will find acceptable due to its appeal to some kind of divine intervention in our decision making. However, an extrapolation of this very idea can lead to deism since motion itself, having been initiated by the first cause seems to go on and on without intervention from its creator. This notion therefore makes the divine somehow an unnecessary entity since everything seems to be going fine without

Read More
1104 Words | 5 Pages

In his philosophical thesis, of the ‘Mind-Body dualism’ Rene Descartes argues that the mind and the body are really distinct, one of the most deepest and long lasting legacies. Perhaps the strongest argument that Descartes gives for his claim is that the non extended thinking thing like the Mind cannot exist without the extended non thinking thing like the Body. Since they both are substances, and are completely different from each other. This paper will present his thesis in detail and also how his claim is critiqued by two of his successors concluding with a personal stand.

Read More
1457 Words | 6 Pages

What is the Mind? Introduction To try and explore the ‘mind’ it is necessary to examine if the mind and the brain are separate or if the mind and body are distinct from one another? Is the mind and body separate substance or elements of the same substance? Is consciousness the result of the mechanisms of the brain, wholly separate from the brain or inextricably linked?

Read More
1744 Words | 7 Pages

But may believe even Descartes isn’t exactly clear on the inner working of the relationship (Robinson, Howard). Spinoza’s substance monism cleverly dissolves this issue by labeling mind (thought) and body (extension) as attributes to a common and singular substance. Other substance pluralist philosophies are also denied when we truly capture the infinite extent of

Read More

More about Materialism Vs Dualism Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document