Soul, Mind and Body Flashcards
dualism
humans are made up of the soul and the body
what are the non-material elements?
soul, spirit or mind
Plato
the world of the forms
which world is the real world
the world of the forms
facts about the world of the forms
+ its immortal
+ its perfect
- imprisoned in the body
what has Plato’s world of the forms been influenced by?
Christian teachings
what is Plato’s example?
the charioteer
what does the Charioteer and the two horses symbolise in Plato’s example?
Charioteer: Reason
Horse: Physical Desires
Horse: Emotions
Plato’s argument for dualism - knowledge
The soul has a prior knowledge from the world of the forms and remembers the concepts and ideas from there.
remembering is simply requiring knowledge from there
Plato’s argument for dualism - Opposites
The body and soul are opposites
Aristotle
said that the soul and body are separate but when the body dies, the soul dies too
what does the soul do?
it gives the form, shape and characteristics of an object
can the body and soul be separated?
no
Aristotle’s examples
the axe
the axe
if you separate the blade and the handle, it effects the axe’s ability to cut up wood
what faculties does a human soul have
nutrition perception desire locomotion intellect
what faculties does a plant soul have
nutrition
were does a human soul come on the hierarchy of souls
at the top
where does a plant soul come on the hierarchy of souls
at the bottom
substance dualism
that the body and the soul are two completely different elements
who is the main supporter of substance dualism
Descartes
what did Descartes originally want to know?
if there was any piece of knowledge that was beyond doubt
why can’t there be a piece of knowledge beyond doubt?
because things such as our senses can be deceived
what is the body
spiritual but not conscious
what is the soul
non-spiritual and is conscious
why did Descartes believe the body and the soul were separate?
if you loose your arm or leg, it doesn’t mean that you loose a part of your mind/soul/spirit too
does Descartes believe that the body and the soul interact with each other?
yes
How does the body and the mind interact?
through the Pineal Gland
what is the seat of imagination and common sense in the body?
the Pineal Gland
Who criticised Descartes and Substance Dualism?
Gilbert Ryle
Peter Geach
G.E.M. Anscombe
what did Ryle call Descartes model
“The Ghost in the Machine”
Ryle’s three examples
A Foreigner touring Oxford
A boy watching a military parade
A foreigner watching a game of cricket
A Foreigner touring Oxford
A Foreigner touring Oxford sees all the library and all the grounds and then asks where the university is
A boy watching a military parade
A boy watching a military parade sees all the platoons, squadrons,
A foreigner watching a game of cricket
A foreigner watching a game of cricket sees the wicket, fielder, bowlers and then asks “where is the team spirit?”
what was Descartes error?
Descartes has made the error that everything can be categorised when it can’t
who else does Peter Geach criticise apart from Descartes
Plato
what does Geach say?
“man is a sort of body, not a body plus and an immaterial somewhat; for man is an animal with one kind of living body”
Richard Dawkins
life is simply bytes of digital information contained within DNA
what will future science be able to do in Dawkins mind?
explain consciousness in purely material/physical terms
soul one
non-material life force
being killed off by science
based off an ancient idea to explain consciousness
soul two
the intellect
an inherit part of being human
will one day be explained by science
Dawkins quote
“we are all of us but self-reproducing robots? we have been put together by our genes and what we do is roam the world looking for a way to sustain ourselves and ultimately produce another robot - a child”
who criticised Dawkins
R. Swinburne
K. Ward
Swinburne criticism
conscience, morality and personal identity cannot be explained without reference to a soul
Ward criticism
it is the soul which gives humanity its special dignity and sense of purpose
soft materialist
john hick
what is soft materialism also known as
Theistic Monism
does john hick agree with the soul and body being separate
no
“we are on an indissoluble psycho-physical unity”
replica theory
personal identity is contained within the body, mind, memory’s and as a whole
what does hicks reject
that only the soul survives at death
what does Aquinas call the soul?
“first principle of life”
who is Aquinas influenced by?
Aristotle
identity theory
that all mental activity happens in the brain
epiphenomenalism
physical events can cause mental events but mental events cant cause physical events
functionalism
the idea that all mental states have a casual role
intentionality
the idea of freewill also links to the concept of intention
moral responsibility
it is difficult to see how freewill is compatible with the theory that all brain events are physically determined
nature of the universe
do we live in a casually enclosed physical universe or is there a metaphysical realm?
who favours life after death more out of dualism and materialism?
dualism seems to favour survival more then materialism
