Preview

What Is The So-Called Mind/Body Problem

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
759 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The So-Called Mind/Body Problem
The so-called mind/body problem originated with a philosopher called Descartes who considered the mind as existing only in the mental realm and the body existing only in the physical realm. This philosopher was under the assumption that the mind could exist without the body. The problem with this theory is that the mind is a functioning physical entity that can not exist without the body, just as the body can not exist without the mind. The two function together as one, and if one is not working properly it can adversely affect the other entity. The mind is constantly delivering messages to the body. These messages are telling the body what to do and how to function. These messages are in fact electrical currents moving from the mind, throughout the body, in milliseconds. Without the mind, the body can not function properly.
The realm of mind and consciousness is one where the mind exists without conscious thought. This means that an individual can be conscious but not be …show more content…
The mind is completely physical. It exists in the physical. The mind is one part of a human’s body. The mind can not exist without the human body, just as the human body can not exist without the mind. With this being said, an individual can be thinking about one specific topic and physically doing something completely different. These two entities can function in different areas but can not function without the other one. Machines can be used to make these two entities function without the other, but what individual would want to live in this realm. The mind and the body must function together or an individual can not live a healthy happy life. Many diseases can occur when the mind is not functioning properly. The wrong signals from the mind/brain can cause an individual to even die. This individual could not even exist without machines if the mind and body are not functioning
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    What are the strengths and weaknesses of dualism and monism?
    • 1561 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What are the strengths and weaknesses of dualism and monism?

    The mind and body problem can be divided into many different questions. We can consider or ask by ourselves that what is the mind? What is the body? And do both of them are co-existing, or does the mind only exist in the body? Or does the body only exist in the mind? Otherwise, we also will consider that if both the mind and body exist, and then there could be a number of types of relationships. Maybe the mind will affect our body. Or maybe the body will affect our mind, or maybe the mind and body will both affect each other.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Substance Dualism Theory
    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Descartes Substance Dualism Theory

    For example, the mind provides functions such as thinking, doubting, hating, or desiring. In contrast, the body or brain are mere physical extensions, and simply represent how a person is shaped or the color of their skin. The body and brain do not provide contributions to the mental functioning of a being, and simply provide a physical platform under which the mental, and its own capacities of thought and contemplation, may be housed. As an extension, all things in the universe may be qualified as a body, a physical entity, or a mind, a thinking entity. Additionally, a mind does not need a body to provide it shelter, and regardless of ever having a body, a mind will exist for eternity because it lacks the characteristics of a physical entity, which cause it to degenerate. In conclusion, Substance Dualists perceive the mind and body as separate and distinct substances due to their unique abilities and…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Searle Mind Body Issue
    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page

    John Searle Mind Body Issue

    According to Philosophy Here and Now, the mind-body issue is the issue of what mental phenomena truly are and how they identify with the physical world. It doubts the connections between the physical body and the nonphysical mind. One theory called functionalism recommends that the mind is the capacities that the brain performs and depicts the basic substance of mental states. This hypothesis overlooks what stuff makes up the brain and rather, concentrates on what data goes into the mind and comes out of it. John Searle, a pronounced philosopher, addresses the thought of the brain resembling a PC. He contends that the mind is able to think and comprehend data unlike that of a computer. Also, he states that computers handle images by their physical…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mind-Body Dualism
    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mind-Body Dualism

    Humans seem to be an entity made up by a combination of both physical properties and mental properties. Folk psychology of soul proposed by Bering (2006) suggested “common-sense mind-body dualism” is a cognitive adaptation that evolved through natural selection. According to this quote, it is believed that individual is fundamentally constituted of body, mind and volition. For centuries, people have tried to discover what makes an individual from philosophical, psychological and physiological perspectives. At different stages of this knowledge in understanding human beings, behaviourism, humanism and the study of consciousness will be critically evaluated in this discussion.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Philosophy key terms grade 12
    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Philosophy key terms grade 12

    Mind-brain problem: The metaphysical debate over the nature of the connection between thoughts and the physical events that occur in the human brain.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Shaggy Dog And Freaky Friday
    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Shaggy Dog And Freaky Friday

    The overall question most people think to themselves is do the mental and physical parts of the brain have any correspondence to one another? According to the mind body problem, it asks us whether the mind and brain is one functional unit or two independent functioning units. Descartes is a very firm believer that they are separate. For example, “The Shaggy Dog” and “Freaky Friday” are two movies that are both great explanations of showing how two beings stay in the same body, but switch minds. Tim Allen and a dog switch minds as well as Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Within the movie “The Shaggy Dog” Tim Allen played the role of a man who was successful and unfortunately was bitten by a canine which ultimately switched with the thoughts…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cartesian Dualism
    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cartesian Dualism

    The mind, or ‘soul’ as it has come to be known to some, is classified as a ‘non-physical entity’ that is separate from the brain by Cartesian Dualists and linked to (but still different from) the brain by Property Dualists. These are perfectly reasonable ways to look at it as such concepts as qualia and privileged access and the fact that mental phenomena lack spatial features support these theories. While Materialists may doggedly reject Dualism, it can be noted that some of their arguments are by no means iron-clad, including their trump card, the ‘interaction problem’. Also, Materialistic arguments fail to address and explain our mental experiences taking…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Divisibility
    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Descartes Divisibility

    Descartes believes the mind is not dividable. He believes that the mind has no mass. I would have to agree the mind does not have any mass and is just housed in our body. It does the thinking for our body and is still somewhat of a mystery. The mind which I believe to be our soul uses the body as a home. As a young child I’m taught that the soul lives on even when my body is no more. I believe the mind is a gift from God and controls the body for as long as my mind continues to…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Mind Body Problem Essay
    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Descartes Mind Body Problem Essay

    First of, what is the ‘Mind/Body problem’?The mind/body problem, in one of its aspects, concerns the relation between the two. Some people have thought that the mind and body are one and the same, the mind being just one aspect of the body and located in or identical to the brain. On the other hand, some consider that they must be separate, either wholly or significantly, with the mind not being equivalent to the brain.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Are The Arguments For The Mind-Body Problem
    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Are The Arguments For The Mind-Body Problem

    The Mind-Body problem asks the question about the relationship between the mind and the body. We, as creatures have a brain, with several types of tissue and neurons and have we a mind because we have the ability to have emotions, sensations, beliefs and desires. The issue arises as we consider the brain as a physical object, but do we consider the mind as a physical entity too, and if the mind is a physical entity are our emotions, desires and sensations a product of our brain? Some argue that the mind is just like the brain and therefore it is a physical object. Some argue otherwise. Rene Descartes offered a solution for the Mind-Body problem, which he termed as Cartesian Dualism. According to Dualism, “brains and the bodies in which they are found are physical things; the mind, which is a non-physical…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    While Cartesian Dualism Is Untenable a Dualist Interpretation of Mental Phenomena Is Nonetheless Defensible.
    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages

    While Cartesian Dualism Is Untenable a Dualist Interpretation of Mental Phenomena Is Nonetheless Defensible.

    Understanding the true nature of the mind has been a challenge that has existed for centuries. In fact many continue to seek for the real meaning of the mind and its relationship with the body. Indeed the mind excites curiosity in humans because mental phenomena are so basic to our own nature. Most persons agree that we are not merely bulks of matter, not just bodies; We are creatures that think, feel, experience, imagine, and make decisions so our mental aspect is of much importance and helps us to better understand our humanly existence.[i] Simultaneously we hardly deny that we have a physical aspect as well. But what is this mind that we speak of and claim to have? It is often hard to verbalize what we know the mind to the “I” that we refer to when use the first person pronoun to refer to our self?…

    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Informative Essay On Body Talk
    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Informative Essay On Body Talk

    In the past scientists thought intelligence stemmed from the brain rather than being a symbiotic quality between the brain and the body. Now, it’s understood the body plays an important role in how you think; it sends messages to the brain about feelings as well as receiving signals from the brain. Indeed, your emotions wouldn’t be rich and deeply felt without physical…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Beyond The Brain Final
    • 1082 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Beyond The Brain Final

    The mind can be defined as “the element or complexity of elements as an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons”. Everyone knows what our brain is, the parts of it and its functions when in reality no one knows how to explain the mind. Am I right in thinking that the mind is one of the most powerful influences in decision making, and inner thoughts? The brain only connects the body in which the mind connects all things. The brain consists of nerve cells which cooperate with the rest of the body through the spinal cord and nervous system. The brain can then process and hold onto new information to find a correct reaction to generate. I consider that the mind is beyond what we are familiar with. We as humans tend to reject the possibility that the mind can and probably is much more than just our physical brain.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Extended Mind Analysis
    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Extended Mind Analysis

    Where is your mind? Where does it begin and where does it end? Does it stop at the skin and skull or, does it extend beyond our body? It is normal to think that the mind including our thoughts, beliefs, memories, experiences, and so on is internal to our bodies as most of us tend to identify the mind with the brain. However, if we try to imagine the possibilities of the extended mind, what ideas could potentially come up may be telekinesis, mind control, or telepathy. If asked whether the ability to move things with your mind equals your mind extending beyond and out into the world, majority of us would agree, that if we had the ability to control things then our mind really does extend beyond our body.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mind Body Debate
    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mind Body Debate

    Philosophers have been debating for centuries the relationship between the mind and the body and whether they are separate entities, or if they are one. This is known as the mind/body problem. If the mind being our consciousness and the body being our brain is separate parts, do they relate to each other or work together? If they are one, do they depend on each other? The idea that the mind and body are one is called monism. The idea that the mind and body are separate is called dualism (Newall, 2005).…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics