1. The Mind–Body Problem and Personal Identity
Chapter 12
The Mind–Body Problem and Personal Identity

2. The Mind–Body Problem
One reason for the common human sentiment of being ill at ease in the world:
Is that a human being seems to involve two very different natures
Prompted many philosophers to conclude:
That neither materialism nor idealism by itself is an adequate metaphysical theory
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Mind–Body Dualism
Dual meaning that there are two things, both mind and matter
Descartes held that there were 3 realities or “substances” as he called them:
One uncreated reality (God) and two created realities (mind and matter).
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. The Problem of Interaction
The problem of interaction is the problem:
Of how mind and body can interact if they are such different sorts of things
A philosophical problem occurs when we want to hold—and good reasons to hold:
Two apparently contradictory positions
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. The Identity Thesis
Holds that words like mind and body refer to the same “identical,” material entity
The identity of mind & body implies mental attributes must also apply to the body
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. A Counterargument for the Identity Thesis
It is just as plausible that what we call matter is an aspect of an underlying mind:
As it is to conclude that what we call mind is just an aspect of an underlying matter:
As the materialists would have us think
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. A Defense of Dualism Dualism in Our Language
At the very least there are two quite different languages, the mental language we use to:
Describe minds (she is clever, intelligent, sulky, stubborn, moody)
Different language we use to describe physical objects (it is too heavy, too large, too hard)
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. The Importance of the Debate
One obviously important ramification of the mind–body problem will be its:
Implications for the question of life after death
The doctrine of the resurrection of the body, as more in line with the:
Biblical account than the Platonic notion of the immaterial soul
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. The Problem of Personal Identity
Most associated with the seventeenth-century British philosopher John Locke
The problem of personal identity is the problem of determining what makes a:
Person the person she is and, relatedly, what makes a person the same person over time
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Alfred C. Lent: Surviving in a Different Body
Introduction: The Body-Swap Intuition
Thought Experiments
Parfit’s Argument
Neglecting the Body
Conclusion
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.