dualism

Question 1

definition of dualism

Answer 1

the philosophical belief that there are two distinct parts to the human: a body and and mind(soul)

Question 2

plato on dualism quote

Answer 2

‘the prison of the soul’

Question 3

plato on dualism

Answer 3

-the aim of the soul is to break free from the body and fly to the realm of the forms.
-the body is weak because of its desires and flaws, it detracts from our powers of thinking.
-the body doesnt survive death but the soul (real essence of a person) does.

Question 4

parts of plato’s soul x3

Answer 4

1. reason - helps us be rational to be able to see the world of forms and gain knowledge
2. emotion - gives us the ability to love and be courageous
3. appetite/desire - makes us look after the physical aspects of the bodies (can lead to hedonism(the pursuit of pleasure))

Question 5

how does plato reccomend the balance of the soul

Answer 5

he says its like a diamond - one thing but can be viewed from many different angles. we function best when we have all parts of the soul in balance.

Question 6

allegory of the chariot

Answer 6

used to demonstrate the tripartite nature of the soul
the charioteer (driver) tasked with guiding and harnessing is reason. the two horses are desire and emotion. the horses pull in opposite directions but the charioteer must get them in sync.

Question 7

aristotle on dualism

Answer 7

he believes in monism (the idea that the mind and body are united)
-a person is not one thing inside of another but hte soul and body are an inseperable unit.
-the soul is not a living thing but it is a form of a living thing - our actuality. the soul is the first actuality of a natural body which potentially has life. eg if the body were an axe, the soul would be its ability to chop
- the soul is a fulfillment of a body

-there are three types of souls in living beings:
1. nutritive soul, in plants (reproduce, nourish, grow)
2. sensitive soul, in animals (move and perceive)
3. rational soul, in humans

Question 8

aristotle quote about dualism

Answer 8

‘we must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure pressed on are one’

Question 9

what is the mind-body problem

Answer 9

what is the relationship between the mind (mental realm eg emotion, sensations) and body (physical realm eg matter and atoms)

Question 10

what is descartes

Answer 10

a substance dualist - the mental and physical are seperate substances with independent existence. the physical body takes up space but the soul is non-physical. the mind and body enter into two-way causal interaction. thought it connected at the pineal gland in the brain

Question 11

what is richard dawkins

Answer 11

hard materialist - phenomena and consciousness are results of material interactions. consciousness is no more than electro-chemical events in the brain
he is an evolutionary biologist, we are as we are due to evolution and DNA
soul 1 & soul 2
human consciousness has developed due to evolutionary advantages.
as bertrand russell reinforces, souls are just wish fulfillment for those who lack courage or fear death.

Question 12

what is soul 1 & 2

Answer 12

soul 1 - a real seperate thing that is spiritual and contains personality (dawkins rejects)
soul 2 - intellectual/spiritual power. deep feeling and sensitivity. he argues this is a meaningful way to describe ourselves but IS NOT A SEPERATE THING. = metaphor for our intellect and feelings.

Question 13

dawkins’ book

Answer 13

the selfish gene
he proposes humans are nothing but ‘survival machines’ wanting to survive to the next generation.
humans are just ‘bytes and bytes of digital information

Question 14

gilbert ryle criticism

Answer 14

he argues the idea of a soul in this sense was like a ‘ghost in the machine’ and was a category mistake

Question 15

gilbert ryle category mistake

Answer 15

‘represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one category’ and that they belong to another. this suggests the mind and the body are seperate entities when in fact, decisions and opinions are formed by ‘me’ not solely the entity of a ‘mind’, they are different aspects of a unified whole. offers the example of ‘i bought a left glove and a right glove’ but not ‘i bought a left glove, a right glove and a pair of gloves.’ shows flaw in descartes’ argument as it combines the mind and the body in the same category - treating it as a physical entity.

Question 16

gilbert ryle boook

Answer 16

the concept of the mind

Question 17

what is the hard problem of consciousness

Answer 17

how it is possible we humans experience phenomena differently

Question 18

plato book about dualism

Answer 18

phaedo

Question 19

plato short summary on dualism

Answer 19

the soul is immaterial, trapped inside the body, belonging to the world of forms - the ideal world of real knowledge and set free in death

Question 20

plato dualism YES

Answer 20

+logical, rational

Question 21

argument from opposites

Answer 21

the physical world consists of opposites: asleep and awake, cold and hot, death and life. one substance cannot contain another, meaning death cannot contain life - so within humans there therefore must be death (of the body) and life, ehich explains the existence of the soul and its intimate connections to life - making it immortal

Question 22

plato dualism criticism

Answer 22

-flawed and vague
-not clear on what exactly binds a particular soul to a particular body, making the fusion of the two inexplicable
- plato implies the support of reincarnation, suggesting it may take many reincarnations before the soul can finally return to the realm of forms. however, this doesnt account for the exponential population increase since Plato’s era.

Question 23

mary’s room

Answer 23

situation where a woman who has leant all scientific concepts of colour yet has never experienced it. dualists agree when mary sees colour for the first time this is completely different from the study of light waves - she experiences something new. phenomena such as colour or taste are subjective (qualia) whereas knowledge is objective.

Question 24

nagel on qualia

Answer 24

he says the materialist view that you are jsut a brain state misses out the perspective of qualia, and gives the analogy of the bat

Question 25

analogy of the bat

Answer 25

BY THOMAS NAGEL
humans can know all of the physical properties of a bat and its functions, brain state - but will never know WHAT it is like as that bat.

Question 26

descartes’ argument from indivisibility

Answer 26

the physical brain is an extension in the material world, so therefore takes space and can be physically divided, however, the mind
whichwe know to exist COGNITO ERGO SUM(an immaterial substance) cannot be broken or snapped or halved. (leibnz identicality)

Question 27

leibnz’ law of identicality

Answer 27

for two substances to be identical, they must have identical properties, however, since the physical is indivisible and the mental is not - how can they be identical?

Question 28

dualism criticism

Answer 28

-ryle w category mistake
-dawkins and dennet (rational and empirical evidence)
- modern biology disproves that the pineal gland is responsible for housing a soul.
=more scientifically grounded and avoids the vague descriptions of dualism and focuses on certainty.
-bertrand russell - ‘the idea of a non-physical soul moving a physical body makes as much sense as a triangle kicking a ball’

Question 29

what is qualia

Answer 29

subjective experiences of phenomena such as colour, taste.

Question 30

counter to descartes argument from indivisibility

Answer 30

-modern science and psychology is able to confirm there are actual divisions in the mind such as separated brain hemispheres.

Question 31

david chalmers critique of dawkins

Answer 31

-he distinguishes between the easy problem of consciousness (figuring out what- brian process is responsible for which mental process such as memory, perception or emotion) with the hard problem of consciousness (how we are able to be conscious at all)
neuroscience can only solve the easy problem. he admits the materialists could be right and it is undiscovered but still defends dualist thought.

Question 32

dawkins response to david chalmers

Answer 32

there are many things science cannot explain or cure. this doesnt give us grounds for supposing something non-physical exists. neuro-science is young and rapidly growing in discoveries.