Substance Dualism Examples

In this essay, I will discuss and formally analyze the opinions in approval of substance dualism and conclude that substance dualism is without a doubt an accurate way of thinking. Firstly, it is important to describe what exactly what I mean by substance dualism. Basically, it asks a very menial question such as: what kind of thing is our mind? According to substance dualists aka Descartes, "the mind and the body are composed of different substances and that the mind is a thinking thing that lacks the usual attributes of physical objects such as size, shape, location etc." [Descartes] Substance dualism is then tested by different opinions which in return vouch for its soundness.

In essence, Cartesian Dualism attempts to solve the mind-body problem – that is, what is the relationship between the mind and the body? The answer, according to this theory, is that the mind and the body are two distinctly different substances that constitute each person. Here, “mind” can be described as a nonphysical thing that thinks and “body” as a living physical thing that does not think. The mind can also exist independently of the body, and both can causally affect one another.

Substance Dualism consist of two different types of substances, Mental and Physical. Mental substances is what your thoughts, ideas, and sensations are composed out of. Physical substances on the other hand are the actual physical and material objects. Given the concept in option one, A Brain-Computer Interface is a medical technology allowing the brain of animal/human to communicate directly with an external device such as a computer cursor or a robotic arm. BCIs seem to show that mental events have purely physical causes. Does the existence of BCIs prove the statement of Substance Dualism to be false? My personal opinion, I believe that BCIs to refute Substance Dualism.

Dualism claims that the mind is a distinct nonphysical thing, a complete entity that is independent of any physical body to which it is temporarily attached.

Dualism is part of the non-physical state of reality in the human mind. The chemical activity that happens in the brain often results in causation. Causation is where one experience causes another, such as sound waves coming from a radio or heat coming out of a kitchen stove. However, they do not appear the same. Unlike physicalism, mental states cause our physical bodies to move in a certain way.

The argument of the two articles is that substance dualism (sometimes aka Cartesian Dualism) is not a viable theory. Substance dualism is the theory that the immaterial mind and the material body are separate substances with independent existences. The authors shined light on how substance dualism has flaws and how the substantial soul cannot exist distinct from the physical body. In the article “A Buddhist take on Gilbert Ryle’s Theory of Mind”, author Chien-Te Lin used Ryle’s views, along with Buddhist views to show how substance dualism cannot have the soul separate from the body. The second article “Is property dualism better off than substance dualism?” the author ,William Lycan, talked about the flaws in which substance dualism is implausible

Keep in mind that a substance dualist argues that mental entities can exist separately from physical entities, and that physical entities can exist separately from mental entities. However, for there to be changes in a physical form, the object causing those changes must have two features that nonphysical objects lack: a spatial location and the ability to transfer energy. This is because in the process of physical causation, energy is being transferred from one location to another. There are many examples in which energy has been transferred from one spatial location to another. For example, when a stationary book on a table is being pushed, energy from the person pushing is being transferred to the book, which causes the book to move.

Another essential concept for the understanding of dualism and its superiority over physicalism is the idea of ‘dualist interactionism’². Essentially, dualist interactionism explains how the “two-way causal connection” that is held between a person, Jane for example, and her body—that body is Jane’s and Jane’s only because both it can affect Jane and Jane can affect it. In his reflection on dualistic interactionism, Van Inwagen notes potential objections to the dualist belief. Van Inwagen describes a scenario in which he opens a window causing cold air to flood the room; the cold air makes ‘Jane’s’ body cold and thus, makes Jane cold. He describes another scenario in which he steps on a tac, causing himself to feel pain and thus, Jane to feel concern². These scenarios fail to negate the idea of dualist interactionism. In the first scenario, Van Inwagen’s mind is unable to cause a change in the organism and person of Jane unless he triggers an

Substance dualism is a never ending argument in the Philosophy world as it’s been going on for decades. It is the view that the universe contains two important types of entity which is mental and material. The structure of this paper is that four main argument leads to one conclusion. Firstly, I’ll argue about Descartes’s ‘separability argument’ which stands as the definition of Substance Dualism. Secondly, I’ll argue that mental and physical have different and perhaps irreconcilable properties. An argument is not complete without a counter argument which in this case the “pairing” problem that exists in Descartes theory is highlighted and where is the interaction of material and immaterial takes

A more damaging attack is to question whether property dualism does indeed solve the problem of location associated with substance dualism. Just because mental properties supervene physical properties does not explain where they are, just how they interact with physical properties.

After reading of the facts of each theory’s claim, the Substance dualism has made me feel more reliable. Though the argument of Descartes for Substance dualism is fallacious, he had the conclusion for existence of the distinction between physical bodies and mind for unable deny himself. However, he could not come the way of interaction for the mind and body since body’s extension and not the mind. Since the Reductive Materialism only concern mental state of all the substance and Eliminative Materialism is different that it conceives the new theory always better and will replace the previous one, which are insufficient structure by describing the matters. I think it works the same way for most human beings in the world, our study of knowledge or cognitive senses are based on both mind - to think and understand the knowledge and body - to actually do the study actions in the very beginning. This is just one example of mind-body dualism (Substance dualism). As an intellectual human being, we are superior in the biological ecosystem due to our balanced capabilities in mind and body controlling. We think then we make a move

Dualism is defined as a belief that mental occurrences are more than just a physical act. Humans are composed of two kinds of substances which are immaterial and physical. The immaterial substance consists of the mind or soul and the physical substance consists of the body. Moreland attempts to make nonbelievers believe in the immaterial soul by mentioning that there are numerous non-physical entities that we believe in, such as numbers, goodness and moral laws. This ultimately leads to the defense of dualism and rejecting the physicalism worldview that is present with those that deny that the mind and body are separate entities.

Dualism covers the issue that is concerned with the connection between the mind and the brain, and whether humans are composed of all physical matter or contain a mind along with a physical body. Dualism is the belief that humans have both a non-physical mind along with a physical body. There are two types of dualism, which include Substance Dualism and Property Dualism. Substance Dualism claims the mind exists independently from the body, and Property Dualism claims the brain causes the mind into existence. When compared to the other beliefs mentioned prior, Dualism provides strong arguments made by René Descartes and Gottfried Leibniz that help us understand and answer the questions previously mentioned. The main differences between Substance Dualism and Property Dualism are not far

“The mind-body dualism, in philosophy, is the fact that any theory that the mind and body are distinct kinds of substances or natures. This position implies that mind and body not only differ in meaning, but refer to different kinds of entities (Britannica).” The most basic form of dualism is substance dualism. Substance dualism is the idea that he mind and body are composed of two ontologically distinct substances. According to one who believes and studies dualism, the mind is comprised of a non-physical substance, while the body is constituted of the physical substance, also known as matter. Dualism is closely related to the philosophy of Rene Descartes. Descartes identified the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and distinguished this from the brain. He believed that the brain was the seat of all intelligence. This lead to a great debate over the mind and body. So, ultimately, what is the nature of the mind and consciousness and its relationship to the body?

Does Descartes provide a convincing argument for the claim that mind and matter are distinct substances