...The Mind and Body Debate LaSonya Jenkins PHL 443 June 16, 2011 Dr. Dean Dowling The Mind and Body Debate Is the mind independent of the body? The relationship between the mind and body has been a stimulating argument for philosophers for many years. Some believe that the mind and body is separate entities and others believe that the mind and body are one and are dependent upon each other. The following dialogue will present the position of René Descartes and John Searle regarding the mind and body debate. Descartes: It is certainly obvious that the mind and body are two distinctly different entities. The body has physical properties whereas the mind is nonphysical. John: With all due respect Mr. Descartes, I can’t say that I fully agree with your proclamation. However, I would say that the mind is a biological state of the mental that can cause or be caused by physical changes to the body. I feel like you do not have sufficient justification of the relationship of the body and mind (Searle, 2004). Descartes: Well young man, let me explain a few things that will support my premise in a substantial way that may indeed change your position. First of all, the mind can exist without the present of the body. You see John; the existence of my body is dubitable whereas my mind is not. Therefore my mind does not consist of the same properties of my body. This is a clear distinction that my mind is separate from my body. John: Mr...
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...QUESTION 1 Our mind and bodies always seem to be in synch, but what if we covered our eyes, would our brains and our bodies still be in synch? In class we watched a demonstration of two students. One student was blindfolded and touched the second student's nose. The second student touched the first student's nose at the exact same time the blindfolded student touched the second student. This made the first student think that he was touching his own nose and that his nose had gotten longer because the blindfolded student could feel the touch of the second student, thinking it was his own finger. This demonstration's purpose was to show the class an example of temporary representations and to show that they only have to do with increasing or decreasing the size of a body part, not completely removing it. Our minds can change the representation it has of our body parts by making them grow or shrink, but it is hard for our minds to take out the representation of that body part. This demonstration relates to the phenomenon of “phantom limbs” because they both have to do with the minds map of its body. Phantom limbs happens when you loose your hand and you still have feelings of sensation in a hand that you no longer have. When you loose your hand, the hand area in the homunculus does not go away. During this demonstration, half of the people who have performed this study have thought their nose is 2 feet long. Our minds stretch out to incorporate the tool that we are using, they...
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...How do our bodies and minds change from early to late adulthood? Joshua Lansberry Ashford University PSY 304 Lifespan Development Prof. Pamela Vincent May 18, 2015 How do our bodies and minds change from early to late adulthood? As we age does our mind simply begin to deteriorate in the same fashion as our body does in regards to it physical capabilities? Have you wondered what affect does peri and post-menopause have in relation to memory decline in women? Is dementia directly related to cognitive aging? All of these conditions have one thing in common, they all occur as the human body starts to age into late adulthood. Aging from early to late adulthood has an interconnected negative impact both mentally and physically on the human body but physical activity can help protect against cognitive decline. First we need to understand physical and cognitive development and the stages associated with early and late adulthood. Then we will examine the age related decline in mentalizing skills; how cognitive aging is related to dementia; and how aging is related to peri and post-menopause and it effects has on the body. Physical changes as the body ages from early to late adulthood are predictable and undeniable. Physical Development depends on maturation, or the biological unfolding of growth. Every individual has a schedule built into his or her genes that controls both the timing and degree...
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...There is a major debate in philosophy called the mind and body debate. This is the debate about what gives us our personal identity as to whether it is our minds, our bodies or whether it is both. A number of philosophers have commented on the mind and body debate. These are dualists, monists and materialists all of which have theories explaining what gives us our personal identity. Dualists believe that the mind and body are separate, monists believe that the mind and body are one but can be separated and materialism is the view that there is no such thing as a mind or a soul and that when we die we die. Philosophers such as Plato and Descartes are dualists. In this dualist argument, Plato presents four arguments for the immortality of the soul which are cyclical – everything comes into existence from its opposite which sets up the cycle of birth and death, recollection- Plato believed that the knowledge we acquire is not learnt but remembered or recollected. Plato believed that the soul existed in a realm of forms before coming into the body, where it acquires this knowledge. As evidence of this he cites the slave boy who has no education but can grasp complex mathematical concepts just like the film ‘Good will hunting’, Affinity – Plato believed that the body has an affinity with the earth and that the soul has the affinity with the eternal real of forms. Because the soul is composite, at death it is dispersed at death and so it returns to the real of form to which it has...
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...• Group Discussion Board Forum 1 Topic: Androids and the Mind/Body Problem Note: In order to fulfill this assignment you need to have read Hasker: ch 3. You also need to have viewed the video presentation “The Mind/Body Problem” and the PointeCast presentation “Proposed Solutions to the Mind/Body Problem.” If you have not done so, please stop now and read that chapter. Science fiction literature often raises philosophical issues and is a great source for philosophical speculation. This is especially true for the mind/body problem. For example, it is common in science fiction literature to encounter androids. An android is a robot which resembles a human being in appearance and behavior. Examples of androids in science fiction books, television programs or films are numerous (Star Trek, Star Wars, Aleins, Terminator, A.I., I Robot, etc.). In reality many computer scientists are currently working in the area of “artificial intelligence” or machines that can “think for themselves.” Many computer scientists believe this is the first step in creating these androids of the future and that in time the distinction between man and machine will be practically erased. These scientists speculate that androids with super-computer brains will have thoughts, beliefs, feelings and desires just like humans. Therefore, some argue, they will also have the same rights, responsibilities, and privileges that all humans have and should be treated as thus. Do you see problems with this view of...
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...Mind, Body, and Soul: The Benefits of Exercise Do you want a live a long, happy and fulfilled life? [If so, you must learn to maintain a balanced mind, body, and soul. How does someone do that though? It’s easy, it all begins with exercise.] By exercising you will not only be able to benefit the body, but also the mind, and the spirit. This can be maintained by finding different varieties of exercises that will help enrich not only your body, but also your mind and spirit It’s common knowledge for many individuals that the body benefits from exercise. Exercise will improve your health while making you feel good. But what other benefits does it have? Exercise can help increase the muscle sizes in the body. Another benefit that I would of certainly not of known about is it helps to build up the bones in your body. Muscles are everywhere from your work place to the grocery store. No matter where you go, you will see muscles on either guys or on women, which is now of a more common thing. Most guys want to increase their muscle size, while some women want to tone the muscles in their bodies. Many men and women will benefit daily from having their muscles. Muscles can help to build a person’s confidence. Muscles can also benefit a person while at their job if they need to carry or pick up a rather heavy object. How do you develop muscle from exercise though? The most specific way to describe the way muscle is earned is through exercise is; the body breaks down and damaged...
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...and using the categories he uses, what view of the mind/body problem do you think is exhibited by Picard? By Maddox? Support your answer. Upon completion of the readings, and having watched the episode “The Measure of a Man” from Star Trek: New Generations I have come to the conclusion that Picard has a very materialistic view of the mind/body problem stating that “Man is a wholly material being” (Hasker, 69). Meanwhile Maddox holds a very dualistic view of the problem, in which he believes “physical properties…are properties of the body, while mental properties are properties of the mind” (Hasker, 65). Picard sees Data, his android officer, as being able to make the same kinds of decision and having the same kinds of feelings any other human being is able to have. This leads me to believe that Picard’s view is that the mind is not separate from the body, thus he has a very materialistic view of the mind/body problem. While Maddox on the other hand believes a very different way. This of course causes much tension between the two. Maddox apparently believes that there is a mind and a body completely separate, and for a Being to be human and sentient it must be able to be intelligent, self-aware, and conscious. He believes that Data does indeed have a brain, but cannot possibly have a mind, since the mind is separate from the brain. Maddox’s main claim is that Data, like a computer, has no feelings, basically has no soul or mind with which he could have feelings. Therefore Data...
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...The mind-body problem has been always been a controversial subject which can simply be defined as the uniqueness of the mind’s relation to bodies. To ignite this argument, one could ask the question “how can anything that acts only by thinking have effects on something that can be acted upon only by being moved?” With that, an in depth look into dualism (any philosophical position that divides existence into two completely distinct, independent, unique substances) is presented. For some, a car-driver analogy can be used. The mind is the driver and the body is the car. However, Descartes rejects this idea and unites the mind and body into a whole. This leads us to Cartesian dualism. Cartesian dualism can be defined as sensations that go with the body, not with the mind, but they only exist from the perspective of the mind. Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and to distinguish this from the brain, which was the seat of intelligence. Descartes held that the immaterial mind and the material body are two completely different types of substances and that they interact with each other. He reasoned that the body could be divided up by removing a leg or arm, but the mind or soul were indivisible. As proof, Descartes used cogito ergo sum, "I reflect, therefore I am." We cannot doubt the existence of our own self because we cannot doubt it unless there was a self to do the doubting. Though the mind and body are of a different nature...
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...1. I feel the view that Commander Picard took on the disputes over the mind/body problem was emergentism. Commander Picard is fully aware that Data is simply just a machine, but he is also fully aware that Data is capable of having desires, interests, and inclinations. Data has proved these capabilities to Commander Picard over and over again by formulating relationships and making free choices. While proving these capabilities to Commander Picard it shows that Data has both mental and physical properties. When having mental properties it permits Data to have human capabilities like feeling, wanting, and needing. When having physical properties it permits Data to have human capabilities like color, size, and shape without actually being human. Data is a machine, but like a human, he is aware of his existence and actions. I feel the view that Commander Maddox took on the dispute over the mind/body problem was materialism. Commander Maddox is also well aware that Data is simply just a machine, but that is all he feels Data is. Data is an idea conceived of by the mind of man. Software written by man. Hardware built by man. Data is a physical organism functioning according to natural laws. Data lacks the crucial aspects of human existence-morality, rationality, aesthetic experience. and religion. Maddox feels that just because Data looks like a human does not give him any human characteristics. Data was made by man and will be the property of man. 2. I feel that the three...
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...Descartes’ Mind Body Dualism Rene Descartes’ main purpose is to attempt to prove that the mind that is the soul or the thinking thing is distinct and is separate from the body. This thinking thing was the core of himself, which doubts, believes, reasons, feels and thinks. Descartes considers the body to be an extended unthinking thing; therefore it is possible that one may exist without the other. This view is known as mind-body dualism. He believes that what he is thinking in his mind is what God created and instilled in him. Descartes outlines many arguments to support and prove his claims of his discoveries. He states that because he can think, his mind exists. This is known as the Cogito, which is the first existential principal of all of Descartes’ work where modern philosophy begins. Descartes also explains that it is possible that all knowledge of external objects, including his body could be false because of the deceiving actions of an evil genius. The evil genius could make him contemplate his existence of his nature as a thinking thing. Descartes further explains in his arguments, even physical objects, such as the body, are better and more distinctly known through the mind than through the body. Descartes shows this through his example of The Wax Argument, where solid wax transitions into liquid state. With all of this in mind, Descartes theories suggest the mind and body can exist separately but it can be argued, the mind needs the body in order to think and reason...
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...The mind/body problem in Descartes Descartes had a major role in shaping and influencing modern philosophy during the rationalism movement. This idea of rationalism was a method of understanding the world through the application of reason as the means to obtaining knowledge. It was during this age of enlightenment that Rationalism and empiricism which can be defined as the acquirement of knowledge through practical experience rather than pure reason, had made its impact as one of the main intellectual and cultural factors that had revolutionized the western world. Thus, the study of science, mathematics and philosophy were all put into question and radically transformed during this period. In 1636, Descartes released his first work ‘Discourse on the Method’ where he discussed techniques on problem solving and introduces one of the most famous philosophical quotes of all time, Cogito ergo sum, or “I think, therefore I exist.” His second work, ‘Meditations on First philosophy’ that addressed the disputes concerning his first published work, ‘Discourse on the Method’, had theories that would change the way people thought about their minds and bodies and the relationship between the two. In reference to this statement, Descartes proposes rational explanations that the human mind is distinct and separated from the body due to his assertion that the mind is the soul that outlives the body and this ultimately results to him attributing the splendors and working of the mind to the...
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...argument in Meditation 6. Offer and justify a criticism of the argument. Argument Mind and body are distinct entities His existence as a thinking being is independent of the existence of a body Body is an extension – it occupies space. Two bodies cannot occupy the same space- if they did they;d have the same extension and would essentially be the same body, The mind is not immediately affected by all the parts of the body, but only by the brain. Two arguments for the existence of material things, one based on perceptions of the imagination, and one based on the senses. The imagination is part of the body – could exist without imagining He expresses he has the ability to imagine corporeal objects (such as a triangle), but does not need to imagine it in order to understand it. Therefore it is not pure intellection. (or part of the mind) “this mode of thinking may differ from pure intellection only in the sense that the mind, when it understands, in a sense turns toward itself and looks at one of the ideas that are in it; whereas when it imagines, it turns the body, and intuits in the body something that conforms to an idea either understood by the mind or perceived by sense. The body can experience (by means of the senses) colors, sounds, tastes, and pain and pleasure-- more vivid than the perceptions he creates in his own mind Criticism Descartes’ theories only describe mathematical bodies that exist in a specific time and place in space. Three possible explanations...
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...and the Mind/Body Problem The Synopsis: Star Trek Episode “The Measure of a Man” deals with the thought that android could have physical and mental properties. In order to fully understand or evaluate this we have to have a clear understanding of the Mind/Body Problems and solutions. Humans are material objects consisting of physical and mental properties. (Hasker, 1983) Physical properties examples are height, weight, color, shape or size and mental properties are awareness, consciousness, feeling, thinking, emotions and senses. The problem arises because these properties interact where intentional or unintentional continuously. (Hasker, 1983) Hasker discusses several mind/body solutions such as idealism, materialism, behaviorism, dualism, and emergentism. Data is an android that was assembled to resemble a human being. In this episode Commander Maddox has orders for Data to transfer to his unit for disassemble with a goal to learn more about him or as Maddox referred to him as “it”, so an arm of androids can serve the Starfleet. Data refuses and has his Captain Picard supporting him. Maddox’s stand is Data has no rights and his characteristics were developed by man to resemble humans so we can direct him. Hasker talks about Behaviorism which states mental properties are special categories of physical properties. (Hasker, 1983) The mind/body solution could be used due to Maddox’ thinking that Data is a physical representation of a dream, conceived in the mind of man...
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...clearest picture, I will describe my personal growth over the past year through three different facets of my life: Mind, Body, and Spirit. Mind: I have always had a creative mind and the ability to see the world differently. This helps me to make people laugh, build friendships, as well as solve problems in school. For example, during a recent Physics project, I was able to build the tallest tower in class using only an 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper and a 6” piece of masking tape. I may not be the smartest kid in the class, but sometimes I can see solutions to problems that others cannot. However, my creativity and free-thinking have not always been assets. From the time I was very young, focus has been a problem for me. Whenever I take a test I often find myself looking around the classroom at my peers rather than focusing on the test in front of me. I have quietly struggled with this my entire life. Last spring, I mentioned this to my parents and they took me to a specialist. In May, I was diagnosed with mild ADD for which I am now being treated and have already seen results. For example, the first time I took the ACT (prior to treatment) I scored an 18. But encouragingly, on my second test (after taking medicine), I scored a 29. This treatment, as well as my determination to persevere, makes me excited about my future academic potential. Body: In 2010, my brother Teddy transformed himself through diet and exercise. After seeing him lose 70 pounds, it inspired...
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...Mind-Body Connection and how it Affects Learning James Webb Coll100 American Military University Corey Tutor Mind-Body Connection and how it Affects Learning The mind–body connection examines the relationship between mind and matter, and in particular the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Many throughout history have often wondered what causes the connection between the mental portion of the mind and the physical state of the body. A variety of different topics have been proposed. Most fall under either the dualist or monist theories. Many philosophers have debated their theories on the mind-body connection to include such philosophers as Descartes and Plato. More recent researchers have moved beyond the dualist conceptions of body and mind towards a unified and interrelated concept of a bodymind together. Today scientists believe our minds and bodies work together. The body-mind connection helps us to pay attention and solve problems as well as affecting memory. Basically, the physical state of your body directly affects how well our minds will work. Some scientists are also researching how emotions affect the body-mind connection. Numerous studies have been done to show the proof that these theories are factual. The philosophy behind the mind body connection began with Plato and Aristotle. Basically both philosophers believed that the physical body contained multiple souls. Their theories differed a bit in that Plato believed that if the body died...
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