Are the mind and body one thing or two?

Answer 1

The body is an idea that the mind has.



This is more easily understandable if one considers the actual scale of the components of an atom. If one takes into account the fact that the neutrons, protons and electrons of an atom actually have huge spaces between them it becomes clear that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are made up of 99+ percent empty space.

This alone does not seem too important till you add the idea that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are more of a loose conglomeration that share a similar attraction but never really touch each other.

At first glance this does not really seem relevant, but closer analysis reveals that this adds a tremendous amount of empty space to solid objects that are already made up of atoms that are 99 percent space. When so-called solid objects are seen in this light it becomes apparent that they can in no way be the seemingly solid objects they appear to be.

We ourselves are not exceptions to this phenomenon.

These seemingly solid objects are more like ghostly images that we interpret as solid objects based on our perceptual conclusions.

From this we must conclude that Perception is some sort of a trick that helps us to take these ghostly images and turn them into a world we can associate and interact with. This clever device seems to be a creation of our intellect that enables us to interact with each other in what appears to be a three dimensional reality.

I hope that helps to answered your question.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 2

this question fins its answer in another question: Can you separate the mind from the brain? In other words can you kill the brain and have the mind continue to exist. Lets look at a person. You might have a relative who possesses an fine, sharp mind. Now perhaps this relative, your Granny (I loved my Gram dearly) we'll say falls off her step stool fetching here flashlight from above the sink and sustains a massive head injury rendering her devoid of brain activity, in a persistent vegetative state, would she still possess her mind? And how could you prove such a thing?
Or perhaps Granny is fine and off to here knitting circle when she steps in front of a bus and is instantly (and completely without suffering I might add) killed. Would her mind still exist? How could you prove it?
Accepting that to this point in history there has been no successful proof of communication with the minds of the dead in the here-after (no that psychic guy with the big moustache cannot prove that he communicates with the dead) then we must accept that we cannot prove through empirical means that the mind goes on after the brain is dead hence we cannot separate the mind from the brain.
Epistemology is where they get really into the mind brain thing for real. The argument I have presented is a bit simplistic but it works to a point. It is still vulnerable form pretty much all sides but hey my philosophy is rusty.

Answer 3

Some people believe that brain and mind are the same and therefore in the body. That makes it one.

Others acknowledge that the mind can tinker with ideas and thoughts that are eternal and some ideas have existed before and I'm sure after the existence of man on this planet earth. That begs the question. How can a finite and mortal mind interact with a timeless idea? Which lends itself toward? What is really the "mind of man" if it can contemplate the eternal elements of man's thinking about himself and his place in the universe?

Answer 4

They are two different things. If you lose your mind you become "crazy" as people call it and nobody understands the ramblings of crazy people. This is because the brain doesnt know how to process the information it is given, so it fires to the nearest memory which might be totally different than what the thing they are talking about is. and although it makes sense to the crazy person it doesnt make sense to us.

I guess the easiest way to explain it is when you have a dream and in the dream it all makes sense, but if you wake up and try to explain it to someone it makes absolutely no sense. This is because your brain was working independantly of your mind.

Answer 5

That question has been a topic of philosophical and scientific debate for hundreds of years.

The determinists (like Marxists and communists) insist there is only the body while the cognitive psychologists believe there is a mind.

How much of each is also open to much speculation. I was taught in my psychology courses in college that it was 60% body and 40% mind, but my behaviorial psychology course just taught the body.

I personally believe that the brain generates the mind like a generator generates electricity. That is a modified dualism.

As yet the experts have not reached a consensus.

Answer 6

The mind (if you think of it as a brain), in physical terms, is inside the body. So, one.

But if you think of the mind, as a means of ideas and thoughts and feelings, as an entity (i.e. the soul) that survives regardless of the presence of a body, then two.

Answer 7

The mind is a part of the body. It can't exist without it. For instance, our memories are stored in our minds/brains and so our memories are basically imprisoned in our bodies.

Answer 8

the mind is part of the body making it one thing

Answer 9

I prefer to look at this with a dualist philosophy. If one believes in a life after death, than 2. If not, what other answer is there than 1? Look deeper into epistemology for a backing for your interpretation. I am sorry I didn't leave a loquacious reply. I simply have yet to take time. Which leads me to the question of, If you never take time, can you ever have it?

Answer 10

Two things. The Emotions are third. There are four aspects to a human:

Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual.