1 dualism Flashcards
definition of dualism
the philosophical belief that there are two distinct parts to the human: a body and and mind(soul)
plato on dualism quote
‘the prison of the soul’
plato on dualism
-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.
parts of plato’s soul x3
- reason - helps us be rational to be able to see the world of forms and gain knowledge
- emotion - gives us the ability to love and be courageous
- appetite/desire - makes us look after the physical aspects of the bodies (can lead to hedonism(the pursuit of pleasure))
how does plato reccomend the balance of the soul
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.
allegory of the chariot
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.
aristotle on dualism
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
aristotle quote about dualism
‘we must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure pressed on are one’
what is the mind-body problem
what is the relationship between the mind (mental realm eg emotion, sensations) and body (physical realm eg matter and atoms)
what is descartes
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
what is richard dawkins
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.
what is soul 1 & 2
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.
dawkins’ book
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
gilbert ryle criticism
he argues the idea of a soul in this sense was like a ‘ghost in the machine’ and was a category mistake
gilbert ryle category mistake
‘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.
gilbert ryle boook
the concept of the mind
what is the hard problem of consciousness
how it is possible we humans experience phenomena differently
plato book about dualism
phaedo
plato short summary on dualism
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
plato dualism YES
+logical, rational
argument from opposites
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
plato dualism criticism
-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.
mary’s room
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.
nagel on qualia
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
analogy of the bat
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.
descartes’ argument from indivisibility
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)
leibnz’ law of identicality
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?
dualism criticism
-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’
what is qualia
subjective experiences of phenomena such as colour, taste.
counter to descartes argument from indivisibility
-modern science and psychology is able to confirm there are actual divisions in the mind such as separated brain hemispheres.
david chalmers critique of dawkins
-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.
dawkins response to david chalmers
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.
