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R.S. Philosophy > Soul, mind and body (textbook - chapter 4) > Flashcards

Soul, mind and body (textbook - chapter 4) Flashcards

1
Q

what is substance dualism?

A

body and soul are different and separate, the soul lives on after the death of the body.

PLATO

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2
Q

what is plato’s cyclical argument?

A

if life leads to death, then death must also lead to life, so the living come from the dead and are born again.

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3
Q

what is plato’s recollection argument?

A

all knowledge is simply a form of recollection e.g. a child can learn maths quickly. How could he display such knowledge unless he was recollecting it?

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4
Q

what is plato’s argument from opposites?

A

since death is the opposite of life, and opposites are mutually exclusive therefore when the body dies life must go on (similar to cyclical)

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5
Q

key quote from plato in phaedo on the soul?

A

“the body is the source of endless trouble to us…. takes away from us all power of thinking at all”

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6
Q

what does plato mean by the ‘body and soul as opposites’ ?

A

BODY AND SOUL ARE OPPOSITES = spiritual and perfect vs material and imperfect, two separate substances that interact

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7
Q

what does plato mean by the soul as ‘changing’?

A

constantly changing, so cannot be the source of truth. Soul is immortal, the World of the Forms - unchanging source of truth, existing before and after death.

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8
Q

what does plato mean by the soul as ‘in conflict’?

A

soul seeks intellectual pursuits whereas body distracts the soul with material pleasures, body only relies on sensory experience which is unreliable so cannot access truth (only opinion)

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9
Q

what does plato mean by make up of soul?

A

reason is highest and allows us to know the forms, emotion inspires us but if left unchecked we can become reckless, appetites ensure we look after ourselves, a good person balances empiricism and reason

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10
Q

what does does plato mean by forms in relation to the soul?

A

soul is a higher reality to the forms and comes from and wants us to return to World of the forms, soul pre-exists the body and has knowledge because we’ve already experienced it in WOF, body gains opinion by senses (Divided Line)

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11
Q

what does plato mean by mortality?

A

anything material cannot be everlasting permanence is part of true essence and the soul is immortal so it’s purer and cannot be broken down.

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12
Q

what is plato’s view on the body, mind and soul?

A

interdependent - mind/soul is the place where all sensations, thoughts and ideas occur, the soul has “thought but not extension”, the body has “extension but not thought”

separate sources but need each other

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13
Q

what is property dualism?

A

body and soul are different but interact as part of the same substance - soul dies when the body dies

ARISTOTLE

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14
Q

What is Aristotle’s property dualism part 1 ?

A

body is matter, soul is form

psyche - the soul shapes the body, giving it’s qualities an direction. soul is formal, efficient and formal cause

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15
Q

what is aristotle’s property dualism part 2?

A

INTERDEPENDENT - the soul’s actions wouldn’t be visible without the body, yet without the soul the body would not be able to move as it cannot organise itself

INSEPERABLE - Although they are made of different things they interact so closely that it would be impossible for one to live on when the other died as they function as part of the same thing

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16
Q

what is aquinas’ view of body, soul and mind?

A

supports aristotle with religious interpretation - soul is united with its resurrection body.

animates the body (de anima)

soul operates independently, cannot be divided and hence survives death

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17
Q

what is gilbert ryle’s view of body, soul and mind?

A

refutes descartes’ substance dualism as ‘ghost in the machine’ - can’t be separate if they interact (ARISTOTLE)

category error - actions have to be bodily and mentally, cannot be separate and categorised into different things as sub-elements of the same thing (ARISTOTLE)

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18
Q

what is john hick’s view of body, soul and mind?

A

religious - soul is a gift from God, should be feared

monist - “my soul is not me” without the physical body you cannot be identified and need both (ARISTOTLE)

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19
Q

what is materialism?

A

Only physical matter, no spirituality - everything about a person can be brought down to a statement of behaviours about brain cells

KEITH WARD

RICHARD DAWKINS

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20
Q

What is Keith Ward’s materialism?

A

neuroscience just proves what we already know - that the brain and body is material and existing (hasn’t disproved anything about a soul)

many people say the soul is the brain, but neuroscientists say they’ve operated on the brain and haven’t found it

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21
Q

what is richard dawkins materialism?

A

science will be able explain consciousness, DNA allows us to survive death

soul 1 and 2,
SOUL 1 = traditional religious belief
SOUL 2 - a word we use to describe our intellectual and spiritual side, the soul is nothing extra and doesn’t exist.

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22
Q

what is behaviourism?

A

BF SKINNER

Behaviourism is a type of materialism

Thoughts are simply learnt behaviours - Pavlov’s dogs; mental acts are caused acts, explicable at a physical level which would cause us not to believe in a directing soul.

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23
Q

why does daniel dennett say we have a soul?

A

“skinner skinned” - humans can’t be reduced to learnt behaviours, Skinners reasons would only be correct if my explanation of something stopped at having a desire, but our thinking goes further

over simplifies human consciousness, no difference between a human and a pigeon

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24
Q

why does john cottingham say we have a soul?

A

if we are made up of just mind and body, an area of human experience including passions, emotions and senses cannot be straightforwardly reduced to either category

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25
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINTS

A

P1 - Substance dualism

P2 - Materialism

P3 - Property dualism

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26
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 1 part 1 - (substance dualism, plato/descartes not category error, plato talking about soul distinction from body)

A

P1 – SUBSTANCE DUALISM: PLATO/ DESCARTES (NOT CATEGORY ERROR, AS SOUL IS DISTINCT FROM BODY)
A: BODY AND SOUL ARE OPPOSITES – PLATO, LEIBNIZ LAW

Plato was deeply influenced by Pythagorean thought, which emphasised the distinction between the spiritual soul (psyche) and the material body. The body and soul are opposites – the soul the permanent spiritual essence of a person, able to access true knowledge through reason via the World of the Forms, whilst the material body distracts and imprisons the superior soul with appetites and pleasures episteme vs. doxa, Divided Line

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27
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 1 part 2 - (leibniz law)

part 1 was plato talking about soul distinct from body

A

Leibniz Law: Object A and B are the same if they have identical properties; material and physical are very different, therefore two things not one The Argument from Opposites: Since death is the opposite of life, and opposites are mutually exclusive, therefore when the body dies, life must go on.

Thus substance dualism is most convincing as it distinguishes between the different between spiritual and physical, with one being inferior to the other

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28
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 1 COUNTER ARGUMENT - (bernard williams, identity from body)

A

CA: HOLISTIC/ IDENTITY – BERNARD WILLIAMS

Not only does Plato’s concept of the soul rest upon the World of the Forms (a largely rejected metaphysical concept), Plato’s view seems to dismiss the value of the body, which seems to play a vital part in how one identifies themselves and moreover, how one survives – Bernard Williams: identity also comes from the body. Mind must be linked to the body as physical events i.e. taking drugs, impact upon the mind Plato and Descartes dismiss the importance of the body

29
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 1 COUNTER RESPONSE - (identity lies in the soul, descartes, cogito ergo sum)

A

R: ESSENCE OF ONE’S IDENTITY LIES IN THE SOUL – I HAVE A BODY, NOT A BODY – DESCARTES

descartes – Cartesian doubt used to prove body and soul are two separate substances ‘Meditations’. COGITO ERGO SUM: Meditation 1: possible to doubt all things (unreliable senses, dreams, evil demon deceiving us). Meditation 2: Cogito ergo sum “I think therefore I am”, impossible to doubt you are thinking.

Difference between mind/ body (one can be proved, other cannot) suggests mind is logically independent of the body. Soul is the thinking thing, body is the physical part; Leibniz law, difference properties, different entities Soul/ mind is the essence of a person, their identity. A person can exist with a body but not a soul.

30
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 1 Conclusive response - (category error - ryle)

A

CR: CATEGORY ERROR – RYLE

• Gilbert Ryle ‘The Concept of the Mind’ incorrect use of language that results in speaking of the soul as though it were identifiably extra, “The Dogma of the Ghost in the Machine” Like watching a cricket match and asking where the team spirit was to talk of the soul is merely to speak of how someone interacts with the world, does not require spiritual essence, mind is just the brain = part of the body.

31
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 2 - (soul is just consciousness, dawkins)

A

A: SOUL IS MERELY CONSCIOUSNESS, EXPLAINABLE VIA SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY – DAWKINS

Richard Dawkins ‘Is Science Killing the Soul?’ “Soul” is a mythological concept invented by ancient philosophers to explain the mystery of consciousness “Not an explanation” of consciousness “but an evasion”.

Consciousness is no more than electro-chemical events in the brain: no person is capable of surviving brain death. Only survive death through passing on DNA to ancestors.

32
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 2 counter argument - (Reductionist - cottingham)

A

CA: REDUCTIONIST – COTTINGHAM

John Cottingham – If we are made up of just mind and body, an area of human experience including passions, emotions and sensations cannot be straightforwardly reduced to either category

33
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 2 counter response - (learned behaviours, ockhams razor and bf skinner mental processes)

A

R: LEARNED BEHAVIOURS, OCKHAM’S RAZOR – SKINNER

  • B.F. Skinner – Mental processes/ consciousness can be reduced to a series of learnt behaviours – Pavlov’s dogs, mental acts are caused acts reducible to a physical level renders idea of non-physical aspect/ soul obsolete
  • OCKHAM’S RAZOR: “you should not multiply entities beyond necessity”; explanation through material/ physical processes is the simplest explanation. One substance empirically examined
34
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 2 conclusive response - (dennett, over simplifies consciousness)

A

CR: QUALIA, OVER SIMPLIFIES CONSCIOUSNESS – DENNETT
• Daniel C. Dennett “Skinner skinned” – humans can’t be reduced to learnt behaviours, Skinners reasons would only be correct if my explanation of something stopped at having a desire, but our thinking goes much further. Over simplifies human consciousness, would show no difference between a human and a pigeon
• Consciousness if a first person, private phenomenon and will never be able to be fully explained in third person scientific methods physical may be the cause, or consciousness may be explained through material terms, but it does not mean that consciousness/ the mind is physical itself!

35
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 3 - Property dualism (should as the form of the body - aristotle)

A

A: SOUL AS THE FORM OF THE BODY – ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle rejects substance dualism, arguing that the soul is the form of the body and cannot be separated from it
• The soul (psyche) is the structure of the body - its function and organization. The soul is the body’s animation – the living force in a human being
• If the body were an axe, its “soul” would be its ability to chop. If the body were an eye, its “soul” would be its ability to see – “It indubitably follows that the soul is inseparable from the body” (‘De Anima’)

36
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 3 - Property dualism counter argument (magee - religion requires afterlife)

A

CA: RELIGION REQUIRES AFTERLIFE – MAGGEE
• The body and the soul are not, as Plato would have it, two distinct entities, but are different and essential aspects of the same thing – this means that when the body dies the soul dies, and there can be no afterlife “value and meaning to our present world” (Magee), substance dualism appeals more to the theist

37
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “substance dualism is more convincing”
“concept of the soul is best understood as a metaphor” “mind body distinction is a case of category error”

POINT 3 - Property dualism conclusive response (substance dualism is old fashioned - frank jackson)

A

R: SUBSTANCE DUALISM IS OLD FASHIONED SUPERSTITION – FRANK JACKSON
• Frank Jackson: substance dualism old fashioned and naïve, but mind cannot simply be reduced to the physical brain; one substance (brain), two properties – physical and mental. Experiences separate from causes
• Ultimately it seems clear humans are composed of a physical and non-physical side, yet as we are unified wholes these two aspects must be part of the same substance and interacting. Thus the most convincing approach to questions of body and soul is Aristotle’s property dualism
• Elizabeth Anscombe, “bodily act is an act of man qua spirit”, body and soul result together in a purposeful matter to make up the human being

38
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 1 (separate body and soul, PLATO’S VIEW)

A

P1 – NOT CONVINCING DUE TO ISSUES WITH WOLRD OF FORMS/ INNATE KNOWLEDGE
A: BODY AND SOUL TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES – MATERIAL AND IMMATERIAL
• The body and soul are opposites – the soul the permanent spiritual essence of a person, able to access true knowledge through reason via the World of the Forms, whilst the material body distracts and imprisons the superior soul with appetites and pleasures episteme vs. doxa, Divided Line

  • “The body is the source of endless trouble to us… takes away from us all power of thinking at all” (‘Phaedo’)
  • Object A and B are the same if they have identical properties; material and physical are very different, therefore two things not one
39
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 1 - COUNTER ARGUMENT (issue of interaction, importance of the body bernard williams)

A

CA: ISSUE OF INTERACTION – IMPORTANCE OF THE BODY, BERNARD WILLIAMS
• Plato’s view seems to dismiss the value of the body, which seems to play a vital part in how one identifies themselves and moreover, how one survives – Bernard Williams: identity also comes from the body. Mind must be linked to the body as physical events i.e. taking drugs, impact upon the mind

40
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 1 - COUNTER RESPONSE (a priori innate knowledge)

A

R: A PRIORI INNATE KNOWLEDGE
• Soul came from a higher reality in the WOF and pre-exists the body – longs to return to permanent truth
• Meno’, uneducated slave able to come up with Pythagoras’ theorem The Recollection Argument: All knowledge is simply a form of recollection e.g. a child can learn maths quickly. How could he display such knowledge unless he was recollecting it

41
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 1 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (world of forms is flawed, geach)

A

CR: WORLD OF THE FORMS IS FLAWED
• Lacks empirical evidence, Peter Geach challenges that how a disembodied soul could ‘see’ the Forms, as seeing is linked to bodily senses – further, what would it mean for something to exist without a body

42
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 2 (not convincing due to issues with concept of soul, immortality of the soul, body is composite)

A

P2 – NOT CONVINCING DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE CONCEPT OF A SOUL
A: IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
• The body is composite (made up of parts) whilst the soul is simple and thus immutable (cannot deteriorate/ change, will not cease to exist)
• The Indestructibility of the Soul (The Affinity Argument, plato): The soul survives death. Since the body is mortal, changing and made up of different parts, the soul - which seems not to be composed of many parts - must therefore also be immortal and unchanging.

43
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 2 COUNTER ARGUMENT (simply material, dawkins)

A

CA: HOLISTIC – SIMPLY MATERIAL
• Richard Dawkins ‘Is Science Killing the Soul?’ “Soul” is a mythological concept invented by ancient philosophers to explain the mystery of consciousness “Not an explanation” of consciousness “but an evasion”.
• Consciousness is no more than electro-chemical events in the brain: no person is capable of surviving brain death. Only survive death through passing on DNA to ancestors.
• Soul 1 – does not exist, traditional belief eradicated by science. Soul 2 – defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “intellectual or spiritual power… mental faculties”; not separate from the brain, not a meaningful term.

44
Q

extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 2 COUNTER RESPONSE PART 1 (identity lies in the soul descartes)

A

R: IDENTITY LIES IN THE SOUL – DESCARTES, LINGUISTIC ARGUMENT
• Father of Modern Philosophy – Cartesian doubt used to prove body and soul are two separate substances ‘Meditations’. COGITO ERGO SUM: Meditation 1: possible to doubt all things (unreliable senses, dreams, evil demon deceiving us). Meditation 2: Cogito ergo sum “I think therefore I am”, impossible to doubt you are thinking.

45
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 2 COUNTER RESPONSE PART 2 (different between mind and body, leibniz)

A

• Difference between mind/ body (one can be proved, other cannot) suggests mind is logically independent of the body. Soul is the thinking thing, body is the physical part; Leibniz law, difference properties, different entities Soul/ mind is the essence of a person, their identity. A person can exist with a body but not a soul Linguistic argument

46
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 2 CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (category error, ryle)

A

CR: CATEGORY ERROR – RYLE
• Gilbert Ryle ‘The Concept of the Mind’ incorrect use of language that results in speaking of the soul as though it were identifiably extra, “The Dogma of the Ghost in the Machine” Like watching a cricket match and asking where the team spirit was to talk of the soul is merely to speak of how someone interacts with the world, does not require spiritual essence, mind is just the brain = part of the body.

47
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 3 (concept of immaterial properties is convincing, aristotle rejects substance dualism)

A

P3 – CONCEPT OF IMMATERIAL PROPERTIES IS CONVINCING, BUT HAS TO BE ONE SUBSTANCE
A: SOUL AS THE FORM OF THE BODY – ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle rejects substance dualism, arguing that the soul is the form of the body and cannot be separated from it
• The soul (psyche) is the structure of the body - its function and organization. The soul is the body’s animation – the living force in a human being
• If the body were an axe, its “soul” would be its ability to chop. If the body were an eye, its “soul” would be its ability to see – “It indubitably follows that the soul is inseparable from the body” (‘De Anima’)

48
Q

ESSAY PLAN - To what extent is Plato’s belief in a separate body and soul convincing?

POINT 3 CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (substance dualism is old fashioned, frank jackson)

A

R: SUBSTANCE DUALISM IS OLD FASHIONED SUPERSTITION – FRANK JACKSON
• Frank Jackson: substance dualism old fashioned and naïve, but mind cannot simply be reduced to the physical brain; one substance (brain), two properties – physical and mental. Experiences separate from causes
• Ultimately it seems clear humans are composed of a physical and non-physical side, yet as we are unified wholes these two aspects must be part of the same substance and interacting. Thus the most convincing approach to questions of body and soul is Aristotle’s property dualism

49
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 1 - reject in favour of substance dualism, aristotle)

A

P1 – REJECT IN FAVOUR OF SUBSTANCE DUALISM…
A: SOUL IS THE FORM OF THE BODY – ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle rejects substance dualism, arguing that the soul is the form of the body and cannot be separated from it
• The soul (psyche) is the structure of the body - its function and organization. The soul is the body’s animation – the living force in a human being
• If the body were an axe, its “soul” would be its ability to chop. If the body were an eye, its “soul” would be its ability to see – “It indubitably follows that the soul is inseparable from the body” (‘De Anima’)

50
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 1 - COUNTER ARGUMENT (soul is separate from the body (plato and leibniz))

A

CA: SOUL IS SEPARATE FROM/ SUPERIOR TO THE BODY – PLATO
• The body and soul are opposites – the soul the permanent spiritual essence of a person, able to access true knowledge through reason via the World of the Forms, whilst the material body distracts and imprisons the superior soul with appetites and pleasures episteme vs. doxa, Divided Line
• “The body is the source of endless trouble to us… takes away from us all power of thinking at all” (‘Phaedo’)
• Leibniz Law: Object A and B are the same if they have identical properties; material and physical are very different, therefore two things not one

51
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 1 - COUNTER RESPONSE (category error ryle)

A

R: SUBSTANCE DUALISM IS A CASE OF CATEGORY ERROR, RYLE BODY AND SOUL ARE EVIDENTLY INTERDEPENDENT
• Gilbert Ryle ‘The Concept of the Mind’ incorrect use of language that results in speaking of the soul as though it were identifiably extra, “The Dogma of the Ghost in the Machine” Like watching a cricket match and asking where the team spirit was property dualism recognises a non physical aspect to human beings, whilst maintaining this immaterial aspect is a part of a physical existence/ no metaphysical phenomena

52
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 2 - (reject in favour of materialism, hierarchy of being)

A

P2 – REJECT IN FAVOUR OF MATERIALISM…
A: HIERARCHY OF BEING
• Plants only have a vegetative soul, animals have the appetitive element (movement and desires), human souls have rationality.

53
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 2 - COUNTER ARGUMENT (soul is merely consciousness, dawkins)

A

CA: SOUL IS MERELY CONSCIOUSNESS, EXPLAINABLE VIA SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY – DAWKINS
• Richard Dawkins ‘Is Science Killing the Soul?’ “Soul” is a mythological concept invented by ancient philosophers to explain the mystery of consciousness “Not an explanation” of consciousness “but an evasion”.
• Consciousness is no more than electro-chemical events in the brain: no person is capable of surviving brain death. Only survive death through passing on DNA to ancestors.
• Soul 1 – does not exist, traditional belief eradicated by science. Soul 2 – defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “intellectual or spiritual power… mental faculties”; not separate from the brain, not a meaningful term.

54
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 2 - COUNTER RESPONSE (reductionist, cottingham)

A

R: REDUCTIONIST – COTTINGHAM
• John Cottingham – If we are made up of just mind and body, an area of human experience including passions, emotions and sensations cannot be straightforwardly reduced to either category

55
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 2 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (learned behaviours, ockhams razor and skinner)

A

CR: LEARNED BEHAVIOURS, OCKHAM’S RAZOR – SKINNER
• B.F. Skinner – Mental processes/ consciousness can be reduced to a series of learnt behaviours – Pavlov’s dogs, mental acts are caused acts reducible to a physical level renders idea of non-physical aspect/ soul obsolete
• OCKHAM’S RAZOR: “you should not multiply entities beyond necessity”; explanation through material/ physical processes is the simplest explanation. One substance empirically examined

56
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 3 PART 1 (property dualism recognises the immaterial aspect (Dennett)

A

P3 – PROPERTY DUALISM RECOGNISES THE IMMATERIAL ASPECT TO US, COINCIDS WITH MODERN SCIENCE
A: QUALIA, OVER SIMPLIFIES CONSCIOUSNESS – DENNETT
• Daniel C. Dennett “Skinner skinned” – humans can’t be reduced to learnt behaviours, Skinners reasons would only be correct if my explanation of something stopped at having a desire, but our thinking goes much further. Over simplifies human consciousness, would show no difference between a human and a pigeon
• Consciousness if a first person, private phenomenon and will never be able to be fully explained in third person scientific methods physical may be the cause, or consciousness may be explained through material terms, but it does not mean that consciousness/ the mind is physical itself!

57
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 3 - COUNTER ARGUMEMT (arguably no material understanding

A

CA: ARGUABLY NO DIFFERENT TO MATERIALIST UNDERSTANDING
• Aristotle’s interpretation of the soul as the characteristics of a body fits well with scientific theories that the soul can be seen as the brain’s activity and identity – doesn’t force a belief in abstract world/spiritual dimension arguably no different to materialism?

58
Q

ESSAY PLAN - “Assess whether property dualism is a convincing approach to questions of body and soul.”

POINT 3 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (coincides with modern science, frank jackson)

A

CA: COINCIDES WITH MODERN SCIENCE WHILST RECOGNISING WE HAVE 1 SUBSTANCE BUT 2 PROPERTIES
• Modern philosophers, Frank Jackson, have rejected substance dualism as naïve and old fashioned, but mind cannot simply be reduced to the physical brain; one substance (brain), two properties – physical and mental. Experiences separate from causes.

59
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 1 (body and soul and separate, descartes)

A

P1 – BODY AND SOUL ARE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES (VS. MATERIALISM)
A: CARTESIAN DOUBT
• Father of Modern Philosophy – Cartesian doubt used to prove body and soul are two separate substances ‘Meditations’. COGITO ERGO SUM: Meditation 1: possible to doubt all things (unreliable senses, dreams, evil demon deceiving us). Meditation 2: Cogito ergo sum “I think therefore I am”, impossible to doubt you are thinking.
• Difference between mind/ body (one can be proved, other cannot) suggests mind is logically independent of the body. Soul is the thinking thing, body is the physical part; Leibniz law, difference properties, different entities

60
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 1 - COUNTER ARGUMENT PART 1 (cannot doubt the senses, dawkins)

A

CA: ONE CANNOT DOUBT THE SENSES – WE ARE MATERIAL
• Cartesian doubt has been criticised as extreme metaphysical scepticism – we have survived off the senses for centuries; it makes no sense to reject our physical being. The idea that an evil demon is deceiving us, is for many, ludicrous Richard Dawkins ‘Is Science killing the Soul?” we must move away from metaphysical explanations: “Soul” is a mythological concept invented by ancient philosophers to explain the mystery of consciousness

61
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 1 - COUNTER RESPONSE (materialism fails to explain an area of human experience (cottingham)

A

R: MATERIALISM FAILS TO EXPLAIN AN AREA OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE
• John Cottingham – If we are made up of just mind and body, an area of human experience including passions, emotions and sensations cannot be straightforwardly reduced to either category Descartes seems to identify an important aspect to the self: Keith Ward states that just because you cannot empirically find a soul doesn’t mean it’s not there – cannot think you could find an immaterial soul in a material brain

62
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 1 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (issue of interaction, descartes)

A

CR: ISSUE OF INTERACTION
• Mind must be linked to the body as physical events i.e. taking drugs, impact upon the mind Descartes insistence upon two distinct and separate entities does not coincide with our world experience

63
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 2 - (identity lies in the soul, cogito ergo sum)

A

P2 – IDENTITY LIES IN THE SOUL (COGITO ERGO SUM)
A: IDENTITY LIES IN THE SOUL – I HAVE A BODY, NOT A BODY
• Soul/ mind is the essence of a person, their identity. A person can exist with a body but not a soul – if someone were to radically alter their appearance, or cut off their arm, they would still be the same person. If someone were to acquire a different soul (thoughts, passions emotions) they would not be the same person.

64
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 2 - COUNTER ARGUMENT (many identify with the body, bernard williams)

A

CA: MANY IDENTIFY WITH THE BODY/ HOLISTIC

• Bernard Williams: identity also comes from the body without our bodies we would not be ourselves

65
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 2 - COUNTER RESPONSE (plato and superiority if the soul)

A

R: PLATO AND SUPERIORITY OF THE SOUL
• Plato was deeply influenced by Pythagorean thought, which emphasised the distinction between the spiritual soul (psyche) and the material body. The body and soul are opposites – the soul the permanent spiritual essence of a person, able to access true knowledge through reason via the World of the Forms, whilst the material body distracts and imprisons the superior soul with appetites and pleasures episteme vs. doxa, Divided Line
• “The body is the source of endless trouble to us… takes away from us all power of thinking at all” (‘Phaedo’)

66
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 2 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (category error, gilbert ryle)

A

CR: CATEGORY ERROR
• Gilbert Ryle ‘The Concept of the Mind’ incorrect use of language that results in speaking of the soul as though it were identifiably extra, “The Dogma of the Ghost in the Machine” Like watching a cricket match and asking where the team spirit was to talk of the soul is merely to speak of how someone interacts with the world, does not require spiritual essence, mind is just the brain = part of the body.

67
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 3 - (property dualism, aristotle)

A

P3 – PROPERTY DUALISM
A: SOUL AS THE FORM OF THE BODY – ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle rejects substance dualism, arguing that the soul is the form of the body and cannot be separated from it
• The soul (psyche) is the structure of the body - its function and organization. The soul is the body’s animation – the living force in a human being
• If the body were an axe, its “soul” would be its ability to chop. If the body were an eye, its “soul” would be its ability to see – “It indubitably follows that the soul is inseparable from the body” (‘De Anima’)

68
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 3 - COUNTER ARGUMENT (religion requires afterlife, magee)

A

CA: RELIGION REQUIRES AFTERLIFE – MAGGEE
• The body and the soul are not, as Plato would have it, two distinct entities, but are different and essential aspects of the same thing – this means that when the body dies the soul dies, and there can be no afterlife “value and meaning to our present world” (Magee), substance dualism appeals more to the theist

69
Q

“Assess Descartes view that the mind can exist independently of the body”

POINT 3 - CONCLUSIVE RESPONSE (substance dualism is old fashioned, frank jackson)

A

R: SUBSTANCE DUALISM IS OLD FASHIONED SUPERSTITION – FRANK JACKSON
• Frank Jackson: substance dualism old fashioned and naïve, but mind cannot simply be reduced to the physical brain; one substance (brain), two properties – physical and mental. Experiences separate from causes
• Ultimately it seems clear humans are composed of a physical and non-physical side, yet as we are unified wholes these two aspects must be part of the same substance and interacting. Thus the most convincing approach to questions of body and soul is Aristotle’s property dualism

R.S. Philosophy (10 decks)

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