All Questions
32 questions
6
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Is mind-body dualism falsifiable?
I've previously asked Is epiphenomenalism falsifiable?, which was well-received, so I’d like to explore a follow-up. Are there any versions of mind-body dualism that make testable predictions, thus ...
- 4,234
4
votes
5
answers
768
views
Does mind-body dualism entail supernaturalism?
The concept of mind-body dualism emphasizes a profound division between the mental and physical dimensions of human existence, positing the body as physical and the mind as non-physical. With this ...
user66156
4
votes
8
answers
2k
views
I have seven steps to conclude a dualist reality. Which of these steps are considered controversial/wrong?
Step 1: We start by believing in the bare minimum : our own subjective experience exists. This is the only thing we know to exist. The existence of other things can only be inferred. And to deny your ...
- 693
3
votes
4
answers
521
views
Seeking Help on Cartesian Dualism and the Mind-Body Relationship
I'm currently studying philosophy and I'm struggling with the concept of Cartesian dualism, particularly in relation to other theories about the mind-body relationship. I'm wondering if anyone here ...
- 329
21
votes
16
answers
5k
views
Why is mind interacting with matter any more problematic than matter interacting with matter?
So there's this supposedly an 'interaction' problem for substance dualism, that isn't there for physicalism or idealism. I've never understood this.
So as Hume pointed out, we see event a followed by ...
- 3,173
0
votes
3
answers
596
views
Which arguments support Dualism as the best view of the human person?
If you had to choose between Dualism, Physicalism, and Hylomorphism, which one do you think is more likely to be accurate and why?
I think Dualism is the most plausible, but that might be because I am ...
1
vote
1
answer
236
views
Implications of Cartesian Psychophysical Dualism for free-will and determinism
For Descartes, reality consists of two fundamental substances: the mental, and the physical.
The mental substance is distinct from the physical substance in that it is not bound by the deterministic, ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
158
views
Can Thomas Nagel be considered an epiphenomenalist?
Regarding the mind-body-problem, Thomas Nagel argues against both materialism and ontological dualism, presenting a view which revolves around subjective phenomena (individualism).
Could these ...
- 101
1
vote
2
answers
778
views
What is a dualists response to Sean Carroll’s QFT objection to souls?
https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2011/05/23/physics-and-the-immortality-of-the-soul/
He argues that given the universe operates on QFT, we would need to create new physics to account for ...
- 11
2
votes
0
answers
145
views
Is dualism unlikely because the mind is inextricable in its activity from matter?
I've been thinking about dualism lately, but one thing that deals a pretty strong blow to this view in my mind is that it implies that the mind can exist apart from physical reality (an immaterial ...
- 1,020
4
votes
1
answer
255
views
What is the argument posed by Katherine Hayles in "The Condition of Virtuality" as to the relation between matter and virtuality and why?
I am learning in class of the influence new media have on old-aged dichotomies such as matter-mind, subject-object and their like. Our new-media teacher asked us to read the paper "The condition ...
- 769
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How does Descartes argue that mind and body are different substances if mind can exist without a body?
How does Descartes argue that mind and body are different substances if mind can exist without a body? I think he does this in meditation II
Descartes’ argument so far is that minds can exist ...
user38026
2
votes
2
answers
162
views
Is there an argument against physicalism on the grounds that the view would make what we call a subjective experience astronomically unlikely?
If we assume that physcialism is true and all that there is, then we can safely assume that what we think of as subjective experience and consciousness, is driven by the atoms in our brain and the ...
- 169
1
vote
1
answer
216
views
wouldn't Psychophysical Parallelism require an explanation as to why the mind and body correlate?
One thing I don't understand about Psychophysical Parallelism, is that it states that the mind and body are perfectly coordinated, yet there is no causal relationship between them. If this is true, ...
2
votes
1
answer
86
views
For substance dualism, what are some solutions regarding how the physical can affect the mental without invoking Divine intervention?
In epiphenomenalist substance dualism, what can be a mechanism for how the physical affects the mental without invoking divine intervention?
Epiphenomenalist dualism is where the physical can affect ...
- 778
6
votes
3
answers
429
views
Is there any way to have substance dualism without invoking God?
Can one solve these objections to substance dualism without invoking divine intervention?
1.Causal interaction
2.Brain damage affects mind
3.Why do only living things with brains have consciousness?...
- 778
1
vote
0
answers
263
views
According to Descartes, the mind and body communicate through a tiny part of the brain (the pineal gland) where the 'common sense' is located
True or False?
I'm unsure about this question because it seems like he only refers to the mind and the brain in this context, but not the body as a whole.
Here's the passage:
"The mind isn't ...
user34653
2
votes
1
answer
299
views
What does it mean to say what happens in your experience is inside your mind in a way in which what happens in your brain is not?
"If what happens in your experience is inside your mind in a way in
which what happens in your brain is not, it looks as though your
experiences and other mental states can't just be physical ...
- 151
4
votes
1
answer
468
views
Imagine that you look at yourself as a cat, what do you think of your own behavior?
I recently thought very much about the life of mammals who live in our cities, such as cats, and dogs.
To see if I will find a philosophy in this, because, as we know, the Nature Is Our Best Teacher!....
- 471
2
votes
2
answers
306
views
Isn't Mind–body dualism the result of a Complex Universe?
Mind–body dualism, or mind–body duality, is a view in the philosophy of mind that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical, or that the mind and body are distinct and separable.
Isn't ...
- 343
1
vote
0
answers
1k
views
How can Brie Gertler's disembodiment argument account for the minds of others?
I'm currently reading Brie Gertler's essay In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism. She uses Descartes' conceivability argument to make her own disembodiment argument. For example, she says someone can ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
390
views
Has Descartes interpreted the rational mind as res cogitans?
I've read several description of the Descartes' dualism but I'm still not really sure: Does Descartes comprehend the human rational mind, human psychology - the part of thinking that is not ...
- 721
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How did Kant "undermine the soul"?
In the beginning of William James' 1904 paper "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?" he states the following:
At first, 'spirit and matter,' 'soul and body,' stood for a pair of equipollent substances quite ...
- 27.9k
3
votes
0
answers
138
views
Does neurorealism imply a fear of Cartesian dualism that philosophy should rightly address? [closed]
Recently Nature published a computer-generated image of the brain sprinkled with colorful words representing a semantic map, i.e., parts of the brain cortex that responded to various spoken words ...
- 131
3
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What is the difference between functionalism and property dualism?
Functionalism and property dualism are both physicalist theories of the mind in that they don't admit any substances other than physical substance.
Property dualism holds that mental states are non-...
- 27.9k
2
votes
1
answer
181
views
Am I not a material thing?
I can not doubt that I exist. I can doubt that any material thing exists. Therefore, I am not a material thing
This is a redux of Descartes's modal argument for dualism (e.g. in second and sixth ...
- 44.2k
9
votes
4
answers
332
views
The demarcation problem and the materialism/dualism debate?
Presumably the end game of dualist philosophers is to definitively prove the existence of ontologically separate mental states which cannot be reduced to brain states. If they succeed in doing so, ...
- 27.9k
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How do modern dualists explain the mind-body interaction?
A serious challenge for dualism is explaining how mind and body interact if they are made of ontologically different substances, and more specifically how mental phenomena can causally drive bodily ...
- 27.9k
2
votes
0
answers
164
views
Are you familiar with a similar argument against the (nomological) supervenience of the mental on the physical?
The SEP article on supervenience claims "Just about everyone, even a Cartesian dualist, believes some version of this supervenience claim [that the mental nomologically supervenes on the physical]." ...
- 5,075
2
votes
1
answer
574
views
Does dualism in conjunction with strong AI imply pan-psychism?
Let's assume that at some hypothetical point in the future, we arrive at two results:
Based on results like DesCartes or Kripke's, philosophers and logicians arrive at a conclusive proof in favor of ...
- 27.9k
-2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
"How does an immaterial activity (eg thinking a thought) inform a material medium (eg the brain) in which it is manifested?" [closed]
I do not think this question can be answered adequately unless the thinker takes a 'moral realist' (moral reality) position - defined as a reality independent of the Mind.
A Thought is an "immaterial ...
19
votes
3
answers
7k
views
What is the modern solution to the mind-body problem for those who still hold the mind is separate?
René Descartes gave us the problem of how the mind interacts with the body in its modern formulation. Essentially, he asked how the incorporeal mind was able to influence the material body. He also ...
- 7,465