Soul, Mind and Body Flashcards
Dualism
The view that there are two different types of existence: mental and physical.
Substance dualism
Descartes’ version of dualism that the two different types of existence are two different substances, e.g. mental (characterised by thinking) and physical (characterised by extension). A substance is a type of existence which cannot be broken down into anything further.
Monism
The view that there is one kind of existence
Materialism
The view that the one kind of existence is physical substance.
Plato’s dualism
Body is like a prison for the soul, trapping it in this world of appearances. Our soul is from the world of forms. Chariot analogy - the charioteer (reason) ruling over the white (emotion) and black (appetite) horse. Harmony achieved when reason is ruling.
Argument from recollection
P1. We have a concept of perfect justice and beauty and perfect mathematical concepts.
P2. We have never experienced perfect instances of such things.
C1. So, our knowledge of perfect concepts must be innate.
C2. Therefore there must be a world of forms and we must have a soul which gained perfect concepts from it before we were born.
Argument from recollection conclusion
There must be a world of the forms therefore we are dualistic in nature.
Criticism to the recollection argument
Justice and Beauty are subjective. Matters of opinion and culture. Everyone has a different concept of perfect beauty or justice. Hume also says that we can create the idea of perfection in our minds even if we have never experienced it. Aristotle thought Plato’s theory of the forms was an unnecessary hypothesis as it had no explanatory power and also no empirical evidence.
Aristotle’s materialism
Rejected an idea of a non-physical soul which could have come from the world of forms - but he still believed in a soul. Soul means essence - soul is the formal cause of the body.
Hylomorphism (Aristotle)
everything is composed of both matter (Hyle) and form (Morphe). Follows on from his four causes.
Aristotle’s three types of soul
HIERARCHY OF BEING
-Vegetative soul: found in plants, it is responsible for growth, nutrition and reproduction.
-Sensitive soul: found in animals, it includes the capacities of the vegetative soul and adds desire.
-Rational soul: Unique to humans, adds on to previous souls and adds rational thought.
Descartes’ substance dualism
There are two distinct substances, mental and physical. We cannot be broken down into anything else.
Descartes’ Indivisibility argument
P1. Physical substance is divisible (since it’s extended).
P2. The mind is indivisible (since it’s non-extended).
P3. Leibniz’ law is that identical things must have the same properties.
C1. The mind therefore cannot be identical with any physical substance, such as the body.
Descartes quote
‘I think therefore I am’
Gilbert Ryle categorical mistake
Visitor goes to Oxford university. They see the colleges, libraries, accommodations and lecture halls. They then ask ‘where is the university?’ - Visitor wrongly assumes that the university is something separate, just as Descartes does.
