Rene Descartes stated that for one to know that s/he exists, it is when you think. a thinking person is one who doubts, and the one who doubts is therefore a thinking self.
'i think, therefore, i am'.
he does not indicate the function of the human body. so what is the connection of our body to our mind? what will be the difference of 'my dog' from 'my body', if both pertains to possessive belongingness?
P.S: [Mr] Small, can you please answer this?
2007-08-21 21:57:07 · 22 answers · asked by the lioness 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
anyone's answers are welcome for a different perspective, of course.
2007-08-21 21:59:52 · update #1
Tough question when you put it that way. I would simply put my views here rather than argue a case for or against... I must admit I only have a view and I can not claim any definite special knowledge on the issue.
I would hate to think that I am a mere physical body..... but of course we all know we are not just the body, instead the body belongs to us....... we make it do what it does..... we are even able to put it to pain and in an extreme case, even put it to a premature end as well. The decision-maker or the chooser of what is to be done with the body is our real self. In that sense, it is this real self that controls and owns the body.
However, our body is different from our other physical belongings in the sense that our physical presence is not dependent on them, whereas our body is the only means we have to make our physical presence felt. This tie-up between our real-self and the body becomes extremely important in our life in this physical world... we can not exist in the physical world without the support and help of our body. So, it is a special belonging that is tied up with our presence and existence in the physical world.
The physical tie-up between our body and our real self gives us an illusion of oneness in our life of physical world.
The difference between our real self and our body is well understood by the difference in our desires.... lust is a bodily desire, but ensuring the wellbeing of the beloved is the desire of our real self to which cause we may even be willing to sacrifice our body if necessary.
2007-08-21 22:23:22 · answer #1 · answered by small 7 · 2⤊ 4⤋
In Japanese philosophy, that part that exists to think is termed (simply) the Other. It is the part of you that makes a person who they are. The difference between 'My Dog' and M' Body' is the location of the Other. If you could transfer that part into another object or person, or animal, you would be (in a sense) that other person, object or animal.
There is a spirit quest that we in my faith must undergo where we seek to 'Know' what others see and feel. The process is called NHVH (Pronounces Naw-Vawh). It is a form of meditation that is difficult to master, but when accomplished is very enlightening.
... but I digress... the connection of the Other with the body is that the body is an instrument for sensory input. Descartes makes no mention of this except that the definition contains reference to think and doubt, and without comparison of two sensory inputs, there could be no doubt to think about. So the instrument of Sensory Input (the Body) is implied.
2007-08-21 22:10:34 · answer #2 · answered by Avatar 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you HAVE a body you might be a murderer hiding a body, or be stuck with a body on your hands, or could be a medical examiner, or ............. I'm sure you get the point.
If you ARE a body then you have NO substance, be it in accords with Espinoza's notion of substance, or even the modern biochemical definition. WHY you might ask? Simply because, you would continue to have the same body (at least for a day or so) even after you are consciously dead and no longer a whole YOU, per se.
Therefore, you neither HAVE, nor ARE a body - but rather a Conscious Substance, emerged from the "stuff" of the Universe. [... And if I might add, a d@mn cute one at that too. ;-) ... Hey, my g/f said I am allowed to flirt just a "lil"; hence the flirting. :-) :-)]
2007-08-21 22:46:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
You don't have a body. You only sense that your mind is housed in something called the "body" but you don't and can't sense the matter that makes up the body-we don't know if the body even exists. If we follow this line of thinking, then we also cannot say that "you are a body." For all we know, you may be a thought in a great mind.
Have a nice day :)
2007-08-21 22:18:17 · answer #4 · answered by Aken 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Something is alive (or knows about its own existence) if it fears its own death. Many philosophers believe that something can only be alive if it has a body, a mind and last but least a spirit. Body can be of many forms and composed out of anything (unknown material, energy, biological or/and artificial structures). The mind is under constant change and evolution, it is necessary in order to strive for more knowledge and to understand bigger, better things. The spirit is an incorporeal but ubiquitous non-quantifiable substance or energy present individually in all living things. It grows grows as an integral aspect of the living being, making it whole. Something that is thinking but has no flesh vessel, body i mean, could be defined as an energy being able to shift -in and -out of existence, least as we understand it. One could only speculate the connection of mind, spirit and body. The spirit gives free will to the mind which commands the body, withdraw one of them and you have a non-living mass of energy. As for you and your dog, you both qualify to be alive, the missing link between you two would be intelligence. Your dog's mind does not evolve to understand, it has instincts in return. Hope i made sense and helped.
2007-08-21 23:01:27 · answer #5 · answered by Alu 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a body because my brain and body is different. Have you seen those siamease twins who share the same body or some organ but they think individually. So brain and body is like that. On the other hand,when we will be dead, in any religion ,it has been said that ,we are going to leav ethe body behind.so definately I have the body rather than I am a body.
2007-08-24 08:38:18 · answer #6 · answered by Layla L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Western philosophers are known to have lived in a cocoon of their making! Absolutely devoid of Wisdom... most played with the thoughts of masses. Their assumptions... their deliberations... their derivations... their conclusions were all vague as they were far away from absolute truth!
There is no confusion at all regarding the body of a living being. If I say, I am a body... it is wrong! If I conclude I have a body... I am still wrong as only an enlightened soul... one who gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) can make this statement! Normal human beings are all living beings... a living form... a body with a soul atman within.
Our soul atman within is the master and controller of the body. It is our soul atman within that is on its cosmic journey and not the body! The moment one gains enlightenment... one becomes a Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or prophet Mohammed. One can finally say, “I have manifested a body"... never otherwise!
Under no circumstances any living being can say, "I am a body" as it would be wrong to say that! Every living form is a cluster of a soul atman that has manifested a body to eradicate the impurities... the dross within! The moment complete dross within removes... the soul atman regains its original pure pristine form.
One finally reaches the end goal of cosmic life... the 8.4 millionth manifestation! The moment that happens... one gains salvation (moksha)! Reaching the stage of salvation moksha announces liberation from the cycle of birth and death forever. Henceforth it is a direct journey into the kingdom of God (aka Baikuntha in Hinduism).
The ego within every human being makes us believe that the body is the absolute owner of the self! This is not absolute truth! The concept of ego was inserted by God Almighty so that the process of karma continued uninterrupted! Devoid of ego... no living being would have worked for the soul atman within.
Bhagavad Gita... the most sacred Scripture of Hinduism makes it absolutely clear that the fruits of karma always belong to the soul atman within and never the body. In the circumstances... the role of the body of every living being is simply to abide by the wishes of soul atman within. The sweet small inner voice of our soul atman that seems to come from within our heart always guides us on the right path! More on Soul Atman - http://www.godrealized.com/hinduism_atman_soul.html
2007-08-23 07:27:15 · answer #7 · answered by godrealized 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The difference lies in that , "You" do not exist within your dog ,while "you" do in your body for a certain period of time . If , however , you are talking of your psyche as 'you' then even that resides in the physical brain for the same period of time & your collective memories/experiences are lost when you shed this body .
2007-08-21 22:05:55 · answer #8 · answered by yjnt 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you have any tattoos? not criminal yet if so, the place and what of?---- Do you have any scars?sure From what and the place?MY CEILING CAVED IN N SLICED MY LEG (BR00TAL NO?) Do you have any bruises or therapeutic cuts everywhere on your physique at this 2d? NOPE Do you artwork out? NOPE Are you skinny, athletic, curvy or hassle-free? hassle-free Do you like your physique? NOPE what's your fashionable area of your physique? MY ELBOWS What area of your physique could you alter? MY nostril
2016-10-16 10:52:44 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a body.
I am a brain.
I talk, I walk, I work, I play, I tell my body to function. There is only one organ responsible for this and that is the brain.
2007-08-21 22:09:48 · answer #10 · answered by Greek 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋