Dualism
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*[[Category mistake]] | *[[Category mistake]] | ||
*[[Chinese room]] | *[[Chinese room]] | ||
*[[Ghost in the machine]] | *[[Ghost in the machine]] | ||
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*[[Non-materialist neuroscience]] | *[[Non-materialist neuroscience]] | ||
*[[Philosophical zombie]] | *[[Philosophical zombie]] | ||
Revision as of 05:37, 14 January 2012
| Deep thinking |
| Major disciplines |
| Philosophy articles |
| Common applications |
Dualism, as a position on "the mind-body problem," reacts to the apparent problem that the physical self and the mind (or soul) appear to be two separate things by saying that they actually are. The problem is one of consciousness, which does not feel physical. On the other hand, no one has ever seen a mind.
The term 'dualist' also refers to any worldview which supposes the world is composed of two fundamental and independent forces: good and evil (such as in Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism); female and male (such as in Wicca); yin and yang (such as in Taoism); etc. However, the remainder of this article concerns just the philosophy of mind definition.
The dualist view of the mind-matter relationship holds that mind and matter are two separate and independently existing substances, and either can exist without the other. The other two chief views are materialism—matter is the fundamental existent, the existence of mind is dependent upon that of matter, matter can exist without mind but mind cannot exist without matter; and idealism—mind is the fundamental existent, the existence of matter is dependent upon that of mind, mind can exist without matter but matter cannot exist without mind.
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History
Dualism has its written origins with Plato and Aristotle; however, it is central to most religious thought. The concept of the soul as something immaterial and separate from the body is a sine qua non of Christian belief. In philosophy, Descartes is probably the father of "modern" dualism.
Types of dualism
The major issue for dualism, is to explain, if mind and matter are separate substances, neither reducible to the other, then how do they appear to interact with each other? If one is reducible to the other (as in materialism or idealism), then clearly the two can interact, since their interaction can ultimately be reduced to the interaction of the more fundamental one with itself.
Dualists have proposed the following theories of how matter and the soul may interact:
- interactionism: this affirms that matter and soul really do interact; the problem is to explain how. Descartes thought the interaction happened in the pineal gland of the brain, but neuroscience has not found any evidence of the pineal gland having such a special role in the mind. A modern alternative, is that the soul influences quantum indeterminacy, which in turn influences neuronal events. But again, there is no evidence for this from quantum physics or neuroscience.
- pre-established harmony: mind and soul never actually interact, they only appear to. God established them both at the beginning of the world, to evolve separately, each in accordance with its own laws -- like how two perfect clocks set to keep the same time, will agree on the same time, without ever interacting with each other to maintain this agreement. This was the view of Leibniz.
- occasionalism: mind and soul never actually interact, they only appear to. Every time matter needs to act on mind (e.g. sense experience), God miraculously intervenes in the world to alter mind to have that sense experience. Every time mind needs to act on matter (e.g. waving one's arm), God miraculously intervenes in the world to alter matter to perform the action desired by mind. So mind and matter never directly interact, but their interaction is mediated by the constant miraculous action of God. This was the view of many mediaeval Islamic theologians, most notably Ghazali.
The major argument against dualism, is that none of the above theories are believable.
Dualism in science
The advent of modern biology and neuroscience has dealt a serious blow to dualism. The findings of neuroscience, including brain centers dealing with specific memories, thoughts, and emotions show that human intelligence is part of the body.
"Soul" (which is distinct from the "mind") is a spiritual concept, and scientists will not consider it unless they can find a way to quantify it.
See also
- Category mistake
- Chinese room
- Ghost in the machine
- Mind uploading
- Non-materialist neuroscience
- Philosophical zombie