The Mind / Body Problem

For centuries philosophers have considered the nature of the human mind, and its relationship with our bodies. There are some who believe that the mind is completely separate from the body: that it is made of a completely different substance. Others believe that there is only one substance, and that mind and body are made of the same ‘stuff’. Still others have tried to find a compromise between these opposing positions.

The central question in the field is whether the mind is material or immaterial: are we merely physical beings, or is there something non-physical which make sup ‘us’? Do we have immaterial souls that animate our bodies, or are we merely electrical activity in an organic brain?

Substance Dualism:

This is the belief that the body and the mind are made of different substances. When we talk of the body and the mind we are talking of two different types of things.  It is called dualism because it is the belief that humans are made of two separate components. A physical, material body and a non-physical, immaterial mind.

This theory is sometimes referred to as ‘Cartesian Dualism’ in honour of René Descartes, a French philosopher who lived in the seventeenth century, but an other form exists, often called ‘Popular Dualism’ which reflects a ‘common-sense’ position likely to be held by most non-philosophers.

Substance Dualism argues that the mind is private, that while I can observe my own mind and self-reflect, I cannot observe any other mind. If the mind were a physical thing I should be able to observe any mind, as I would observe any physical thing, not just my own.

It also argues that our knowledge of the physical world is fallible. I might make an error if I trust my senses. Visual illusions and uncertain observations can lead me to be mistaken, but the same cannot be said about the mind. If I make judgements about my own mind those judgements are always correct. If I believe that I am happy, or sad, or frightened, I know that I truly am… I cannot be in error.

The dualist will also resist attempts to identify the mental with physical states. The mind, for the dualist is irreducible. Any attempt to explain the mind using only reference to physical states is insufficient.

Problems for the dualist:

One problem the dualist faces is explaining how the mind and body inter-act, or inter-relate. It appears both that mental events cause physical events and that physical events cause mental events.

My beliefs and desires, for example, which are mental states, cause me to act in certain ways. Similarly, what happens to my physical body often has an effect on how I think and feel. (This is a theory called interactionism)

To argue that the mind and body are composed of separate substances requires some explanation of how these substances interact, whether that interaction is one directional (as in the theory of epiphenomenalism) or two directional, or perhaps (as in a theory called parrellelism) that there is no interaction: that the body does not affect the mind, and the mind does not affect the body.

Alternative views:

One opposing view to the dualist is Substance Monism, which makes no distinction between the mental and physical, believing instead that everything which exists is made of the same substance. Either everything in the universe is mental (Idealism) or everything in the universe is physical (Materialism, also sometimes referred to as Physicalism). We will explore this in more detail on Tuesday.

How does this relate to personhood?

A Dualist can argue that a ‘person’ is actually two things: a body and a mind (or soul), but for a Materialist a ‘person’ is only a body. The materialist may argue that the mind is an epiphenomenon of the body; the effect of electrical activity in our physical brain.

The two positions are outlined by Professor Kagan of Yale in this video