Mind/Body Dichotomy 1 THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET) Dialogue Education Update 3

Contents Page 3 - Video Presentation on the Mind Body Question Pages 4 to5 - Defining the Mind Body issue Page 6 - The main categories Pages 8 to 22 - Rene Descarte -The Mind Body Problem Page 24 - Community of inquiry Stimulus Material on the Mind Body Problem Page 25 - Video Presentation – John Searle Beyond Dualism Page 26 - Hoopshoot Game on the Mind Body question Page 27 - Bibliography 2

You Tube Introduction to the Mind Body Debate. Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen 3

Mind Body Dichotomy The mind-body dichotomy is the view that "mental" phenomena are, in some respects, "non-physical" (distinct from the body). 4

Mind Body Dichotomy In a religious sense, it refers to the separation of body and soul. 5

Mind Body Dichotomy Plato argued that, as the body is from the material world, the soul is from the world of ideas and thus immortal. 6

Mind Body Dichotomy The mind-body dichotomy is the starting point of Dualism. It became conceptualized its current form in the Western world by René Descartes's. It also appeared in pre- Aristotelian concepts. René Descartes' illustration of mind/body dualism. Inputs are passed on by the sensory organs to the epiphysis in the brain and from there to the immaterial spirit. 7

Meditations II (1641) The Mind-Body Problem & Descartes’ Psycho-Somatic Dualism René Descartes ( AD) 8

Anthem 9

Three metaphysical perspectives relevant to the “mind-body problem” 10

Metaphysical Dualism: Metaphysical Materialism: Metaphysical Idealism: 11

Application to the “mind-body problem” Metaphysical Materialism: A person is nothing but a physical organism (body only). Metaphysical Idealism: A person is “consciousness only” (mind, soul, spirit); not at all a material being. Metaphysical Dualism: A person is a composite of (1) “mind” (consciousness, intellect, soul, spirit) and (2) body. 12

Cartesian Dualism I know with certainty THAT “I” exist (Cogito ergo sum), but WHAT am “I”? 13

Can you doubt the existence of your body (as well as other physical things)? Is Descartes right? Why or why not? 14

Bryan Magee, The Great Philosophers (Oxford 1987) “I can conceive of myself as existing without a body, but I cannot conceive of myself as existing without conscious awareness.” 15

Descartes' piece of wax (What is this about?) Detour Descartes’ piece of wax is a physical object. How is it known? Through the senses? Through the intellect (judgement, intuition)? 16

That piece of wax…. A major dispute running through the entire history of philosophy has to do with the source(s) of human knowledge. 17

In the "wax" section, which is a kind of detour from his main argument, Descartes is showing his support of rationalism. 18

my body exists (if it exists at all) outside of my consciousness and is therefore part of the “external world.” So… in Descartes’ view, Thus, Back to the mind- body problem…. 19

Descartes’ mind-body dualism leads to

(1) skepticism concerning the existence & nature of the “external world” & (2) the existence of God 21

Descartes suggested that the body works like a machine, that it has material properties. 22

Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons. 23

Although Descartes realized that both humans and animals have pineal glands, he believed that only humans have minds. 24

The Mind Body Dichotomy The rejection of the mind-body dichotomy is found in French Structuralism, and is a position that generally characterized post- war French philosophy. 25

Mind Body Dichotomy The absence of an empirically identifiable meeting point between the non-physical mind and its physical extension has proven problematic to dualism and many modern philosophers of mind maintain that the mind is not something separate from the body. 26

Mind Body Dichotomy These approaches have been particularly influential in the sciences 27

Argument against Dualism In instances of brain damage it is always the case that the mental substance and/or properties of the person are significantly changed or compromised 28

Arguments against Dualism 29 Phineas Gage, who suffered destruction of one or both frontal lobes by a projectile iron rod, is often cited as an example illustrating that the brain causes mind.

Arguments against dualism Case studies aside, modern experiments have demonstrated that the relation between brain and mind is much more than simple correlation. 30

A community of Inquiry on the Mind Body Problem CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR THE STIMULUS FOR A DISCUSSION ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH THE MATERIALIST THEORY OF MIND (You might like to print this material out and distribute it to the class.) 31

HoopShoot Click on the image above for a game of “HoopShoot”. Try playing the game with your students at the start and the end of the unit. Make sure you have started the slide show and are connected to the internet. 32

Bibliography The mind-body problem by Robert M. Young Forming the Mind: Essays on the Internal Senses and the Mind/Body Problem from Avicenna to the Medical Enlightenment, Springer Science + Business Media, , ISBN Cronk G. Bergen College Website- Turner 96, p.76 Kim, J. (1995). Honderich, Ted. ed.. Problems in the Philosophy of Mind. Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pinel, J. Psychobiology, (1990) Prentice Hall, Inc. ISBN LeDoux, J. (2002) The Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are, New York:Viking Penguin. ISBN Russell, S. and Norvig, P. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, New Jersey:Prentice Hall. ISBN Dawkins, R. The Selfish Gene (1976) Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN Kim, J., "Mind-Body Problem", Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Ted Honderich (ed.). Oxford:Oxford University Press Wikipedia-Mind Body Dichotomy- 33