Is there a strong case for mind/body dualism?
Arguably, Rene Descartes is one father of philosophy who approaches the issue of knowledge and thinking in a unique stance. According to Descartes, human beings have decisive knowledge of their own existences; this is because man is a thinking being. This is where he developed the philosophy of cognition, meaning: “I think, therefore, I am.” Descartes developed the philosophy of mind/body dualism to escape the Cartesian impasse, or, the deadlock in the argument. The mind/body dualism explores the relationship, and mutually inclusivity, of the mind and the body. Certainly, the common sense perspective of body and mind is that both interact. This implies that our intentions, perceptions and anxieties, as well as thoughts, directly affect our actions and our bodies. Additionally, it states that the nervous system and the brain generate our ultimate state of mind. Unfortunately, the common sense view has many controversies. Hence, Rene Descartes uses his philosophy to demonstrate the mind/body relationship. Certainly, there is a strong case of mind/body dualism. In Descartes’ mediation, he lays the foundation for dualism which has remained one of the greatest argumentative philosophies.
Certainly, the basis of mind/body dualism began when Descartes established that he is a thinking being. According to Descartes, he exists in this world because he can think. In such a capacity, he discovers that he has a mind, but does assume that he has a body (Warburton). Herein, the justification of existence of mind is seen, but what exactly takes in the thinking capability through the senses is unclear. Following his proof of God’s existence, he decided to prove the existence of material things; this would help in speculation of the mind/ body relationship. The mind/body dualism is a theory that elaborates on distinctiveness between mind and body.
Perhaps mind and body dualism has some consistency with the biblical scriptures and beliefs. Based on biblical arguments, the ancient context of the scriptures asserted that man was created with soul and body, while in philosophical perspective, it elaborates on the differences between mind (soul) and brain (matter). According to Descartes argument, mind is non-physical and non-existent. In fact, the mind is self-awareness and consciousness. In most cases, individuals fail to differentiate between the mind and the brain; the brain is an avenue of intelligence. That is why there is a mind-body, which exists to date. In society today, an average person will be in denial of the relationship between mind and brain (Rozemond).
Conversely, the argument that favors the mind/body dualism is that physical and mental are different and irreconcilable properties of man. As a matter of fact, physical events have no subjective quality; on the other hand, mental events within man have subjective quality. To elaborate on this, individuals in society can reasonably enquire about how the finest music sounds, as well as how the dark sky looks; nevertheless, other questions are meaningless (Warburton). Philosophers believe that there is raw feeling in various mental events, making them difficult to comprehend it as something physical.
Debatably, mind and body are discrete and utterly distinctive in nature, in that mind is a totally nonphysical substance. Descartes believes that the mind can exist without the body, because the two are separated from each other. Since body and mind can be distinctive from each other, then due to God’s existence it follows that He can cause mind and body to exist independently. To some extent, Descartes believed he is a thinking being who can exist and think without the body. Metaphysically, there is a possibility that the mind will exist in a free state from the body. Hence, the essentiality of the body in the existence of mind is irrelevant.
According to Descartes, the existence of mind and body is discrete and each one operates differently. In this case, the mind operates under physical laws. Based on the rule of effect and cause, its effects came from philosophical circles. Later in his philosophy, Descartes faced difficulties in explaining the problem of body and mind causal interaction (Warburton). Clearly, in his philosophy, Descartes held a certain form of interactionism where he believed that, in some cases, mental events could cause bodily events, and bodily events could cause mental events.
Philosophically, the zombie problem refers to a problem of consciousness, which is stated in a certain provocative manner. It is founded on a thought experiment put forward by David Chalmers. The concept is that it can be imagined, and therefore believed, a seemingly functioning human body without a conscious state accompanying it. Zombies view the world in two different ways, that is the physical and the mental. Physicians assert that facts will always be a determinant of other facts. Consciousness may be profoundly the same for a physician zombie. The presence of zombies in various fields makes it difficult for them to understand or make sense of the mind problem (Rozemond).
The implication of the zombie problem is extraordinarily complex. This is because when a zombie uses various words, or speaks a language, we should comprehend that he or she is making no reference to a conscious experience. Generally, the unifying factor in the zombie problem is that of a human being who has no conscious experience at all. However, their distinction could be based on behaviors, soul as well as brain (Rozemond). The zombie problem culminates in the way zombies report issues in a mystified way, basing it on their experience, which is sometimes known to be super-consciousness.
Zombie conscious-talk is mostly taken to be a mystic-talk, which is far away from reality. Overcoming the zombie problem is immensely complex because individuals reason without conscience and are always ready to believe and behave as they think. Individuals should be ready to change their perceptions and think consciously as well as basing their arguments on facts. Perhaps the zombie argument is that one can imagine and, therefore, can conceive the existence of a functional body without any state on consciousness that is associated fully with it. Implication of the zombie problem is that it inverts the traditional problem of various mental causation (Warburton).
On the other hand, the mutant problem emphasizes the change and disparities between the mind and body. Mutant problem bases its argument on biological development, in that development entails material entities, where nothing from outside are added. Then, in turn, human beings will end up fully developed as material beings. Human evolve from simple cells to complex beings, which can be explained using natural selection and mutation theories. In the mutant problem, its implication comes by expressing difficulty in explaining dualism, which is why and where there could be an invention of non-physical, and non-material events such as mind in the event of natural evolution. The mutant problem is, in one way, an explanation of Descartes’ mind/body dualism, if not a conflicting scenario. The postulation of both non-material as well as non-physical could appear superfluous.
Works Cited
Rozemond, M. Descartes’ Dualism. 1998. Print. New York: Springer.
Warburton, N. Philosophy: The Basics. 2004. Print. London: Wiley.
