soul, mind, and body Flashcards
plato on the soul
completely seperate
spiritual is perfect and unchanging but body is imperfect and changing
if changing cannot be source of truth
platos example for soul - explain it
chariot - 3 parts
reason is highest and allows us to control the other two - is the charioteer in charge of horses
emotion
appetite - can drift into hedonism
platos cyclical argument
if life leads to death must also lead to life
born again
story for platos belief in reincarnation
myth of er
property dualism def
soul and body are seperate but interact together and die at the same time
what causes are the soul (aristotle)
formal efficient final
aristotles analogy for the soul
If an axe were a living thing then its body would be made of wood and metal. its soul would be the thing which made it an axe i.e. its capacity to chop. If it lost its ability to chop it would cease to be an axe – it would simply be wood and metal.
- If the eye were an animal, sight would have to be its soul. When the eye no longer sees then it is an eye in name only.
how does aquinas’ concept differ from aristotle
supports his view but with religious interpretation so soul is united with ressurection body to have beautific vision with god
monism vs dualism
monism - mind and body are one entity
dualism - separate entities
rationalism (plato) def vs empiricism (Aristotle)
thought and reason only
observation only
what cause is the flesh and bones and what cause is the soul
material
formal
3 aspects of Aristotles soul (3 tiers)
vegetative - share with all living things
appetitive - passions, appetites, emotions etc
intellectual soul - only humans
I think therefore I am
cogito ergo sum
why does Descartes argue there must be subatsnace dualism
soul has thought but not extension
body has extension but not thought
senses are susceptible to mistake and there are no solid foundations to knowledge -doubt senses but not mind
separate sources but need each other to interact
what example does Descartes use to explain how the mind and body interact
can affect each other
constant pain can equal depression
evaluation of the world of forms to evaluate plato soul idea
no such thing as perfect goodness or justice – what someone thinks is good depends on their culture.
Perfect goodness will mean different things to different people.
So, there cannot be a perfect form of goodness – so his argument for the soul fails.
plato - how can we have an idea of perfection even if we haven’t seen it !!
how does Hume evaluate this
we can gain the concept of perfection merely from observing imperfect things and imagining what they would be like without imperfection.
So, even though we never experience perfection, our reason is still capable of figuring it out as a concept. There’s no need to suppose it was innate and no need for the explanation of a soul. So, Plato’s argument for the soul fails.
the soul is what give sour body rational thought
who thinks this
Aristotle
explain wax stamp analogy
Aristotle
The imprint cannot be separated from the wax as it is inherently a part of it, much in the same way the soul is inherently part of the body
bacon evaluating Aristotle
father of empiricism, argued that ‘form’ was not a scientific matter.
Modern scientists would go even further in rejecting Aristotle’s theory.
They would say the body is just material structure – there is no ‘form’ or ‘essence’ of it. Rational thought is just caused by brain processes, we don’t need the idea of a soul.
why does Gilbert Ryle think there is a category error with Aristotle and Descartes
actions have to be bodily AND mentally and so they cant be put into separate categories because they are sub elements of the same thing
what does Ryle argue the mind acc is
(behaviourist)
the word ‘mind’ really refers to a set of behavioural dispositions.
Claiming the mind a non-physical thing therefore commits a category error.
what example does Gilbert Ryle give to explain that the mind is not a physical thing
brittleness of glass
evaluation of Gilbert Ryle
mind does feel like a thing
Dawkins: it is the brain which is more credible than arguing it is not a thing at all
memes
dawkins
Our bodies enable our genes to survive and be passed on. All our genes are concerned with is survival and replication.
no physical evidence of a soul
Swinburne on soul
dualist - human identity comes from soul
who talks about category error
Gilbert ryle
materialist def and famous materialist
humans just made up of flesh
Dawkins
Dawkins soul one and soul 2
1 - traditional religious thought
2- highly rooted in body and will be discovered in DNA and capable of higher thinking
