Soul, mind and body Flashcards
What is the main issue regarding Consciousness and Personal Identity?
The main issue is whether ‘I’ am someone who is a body, someone who has a body, or someone who represents a complex, integrated psycho-physical whole.
What are the two perspectives on the relationship between mind and body?
The two perspectives are monism (mind and body are one and the same) and dualism (mind and body are two separate entities).
What are the two important issues in assessing Consciousness and Personal Identity?
The two important issues are Identity (criteria for deciding what constitutes a person) and Continuity (criteria for being regarded as the same person over time).
What is the example used to illustrate the problem of identity in personal identity?
Locke’s story of the Cobbler and the Prince illustrates the problem of identity, questioning whether personhood should be attached to memory or body.
What is Dualism?
Dualism is the belief that humans have composite natures, consisting of a material body and a non-material soul.
What does Plato believe about the soul?
Plato believes the soul belongs to the world of the Forms, is immortal and perfect, but is imprisoned in the body.
What metaphor does Plato use to describe the soul?
Plato uses the metaphor of a charioteer (reason) steering two horses (physical desires and emotions) to illustrate harmony in the soul.
What are Plato’s arguments for dualism?
Plato’s arguments include: 1. Knowledge - the soul has a priori knowledge from the World of the Forms. 2. Opposites - life and death are opposites, suggesting the soul moves to the world of the Forms after death.
What is Aristotle’s view on the relationship between body and soul?
Aristotle considers the body and soul to be distinct, with the soul as the ‘form’ or animating principle of the body, which dies with the body.
How does Aristotle illustrate the inseparability of body and soul?
Aristotle illustrates this by comparing the soul to an imprint in wax, which cannot be separated from the wax.
What faculties does Aristotle attribute to the soul?
Aristotle attributes the faculties of vegetative, appetitive, and intellect to the soul, with a hierarchy among living things.
What is Substance Dualism?
Substance Dualism is the view that the body and mind are two wholly different substances.
Who is the main proponent of Substance Dualism?
Descartes is the main proponent of Substance Dualism.
What is Descartes’ foundational philosophical statement?
Descartes’ foundational statement is ‘cogito ergo sum’ or ‘I think, therefore I am’, which emphasizes the separation of mind and body.
What did Descartes argue about the body and mind?
Descartes argued that the body is spatial and not conscious, while the mind is non-spatial and conscious, having thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.
How did Descartes view the relationship between body and mind?
Descartes believed body and mind were completely separate substances because the body is divisible whereas the mind is not.
He used the example of being able to amputate parts of the body (for example, an arm or a foot) which would not take anything away from the mind.
What was Descartes’ view on the interaction between mind and body?
Descartes suggested the mind and body interact, causally affecting each other, with the pineal gland as the point of interaction.
What criticism did Gilbert Ryle have of Descartes’ model?
Ryle described Descartes’ model as more like ‘the ghost in the machine’, arguing that it makes no sense for a ghostly immaterial substance to affect and control a material body.
What is a category error according to Ryle?
A category error occurs when two terms (mind and body) are incorrectly assumed to be of the same logical type, such as asking where the team spirit is in a cricket game.
What examples did Ryle use to illustrate category error?
- A foreigner asking where the University is after touring the colleges and library.
- A boy asking when the Division will arrive after seeing military units.
- A foreigner asking where the team spirit is while watching cricket.
What is Ryle’s stance on materialism?
Ryle is not arguing that humans are simply reducible to biological processes; he seeks to clarify and explore the ideas of consciousness without falling into dualism or materialism.
What is Peter Geach’s criticism of dualism?
Geach argues that man is a sort of body, not a body plus an immaterial substance, and prefers the tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas with the soul as the form of the body.
How does G.E.M. Anscombe view the relationship between body and soul?
Anscombe sees the body and soul as one, using the example of pointing to illustrate that physical gestures have meanings that require both thought and action.
What is a problem of dualism?
One problem of dualism is how the body and soul interrelate—how can something non-spatial causally affect something spatial?
What is monism?
Monism is the view that humans are one substance only, not two.
What are the two types of monism?
- Idealism - a single nature that is entirely metaphysical.
- Materialism - a single nature that is entirely physical.
What is Richard Dawkins’ view on life and consciousness?
Dawkins states that life is simply bytes of digital information contained within DNA, and believes science will eventually explain consciousness in purely material terms.
What distinction does Dawkins make between Soul One and Soul Two?
Dawkins claims Soul One (non-material life force) is being killed by science, while Soul Two (the intellect) is an inherent part of being human that will one day be explained by science.
