Do you believe that the mental and physical are the same? When one dies the other does too, Or is he mind and body seperate. Do you believe that their is only one kind of "stuff" in the world, either mental or physical but not two?
Note:This is not an attack on atheism, simply a philosophical discussion. I am not christian and could care less if god exists or not.
2007-11-04 05:34:29 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Dualism, the sort advocated by Renee Descartes, has been largely abandoned by most scientific thinkers, especially from late 19th century forward. The reason is that dualism, while attempting to solve the problem of the soul by claiming a non-material substance (which could possibly communicate with the divine), introduced a whole new problem that was never solved by the theory. And that problem was: how does the immaterial communicate with the material? Presuming that whatever laws govern the immaterial (like a soul) somehow "transend" material laws, it forces the question of how such communication with the material world can be conducted. What sort of immaterial-material connection is possible? Answer: there really can't be such a hybrid device or "intra-material" thing. (Not only is such a thing illogical, it is also inelegant by making the concept even more convoluted than a one-substance approach.)
Dualism, in short, is an unsustainable framework. In some ways, it was the last great attempt by Christian philosophers to reconcile the confusions of faith (the trinity concept, transubstantiation, the soul, etc) with the natural world. The natural world can be measured, tested, predicted, analyzed, and modeled-- and performing such actions (generally called scientific investigation) showed no evidence for anything "beyond nature."
So, I have to say that the only reality is the natural reality we inhabit and that makes up our bodies and our brains. Mental activity (like consciousness) is an epiphenomenon, that is, the result of highly complex interactions occuring in patterns. (We still do not understand subjective consciousness, but there is no reason to suppose an immaterial substance or force to account for it.)
Threre is only one kind of "stuff." Real stuff. Any other proposed stuff is imaginary.
2007-11-04 05:51:58 · answer #1 · answered by kwxilvr 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's monism all the way. The "mental" exists only as a property of the configuration of the physical. In other words, there is no separation between the two. There was no mental "you" before you were born, and there will be no mental you after you die, which means we only exist in that sense while we have a phsyical body to maintain us.
2007-11-04 05:42:13 · answer #2 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best available evidence from science indicates that animal consciousness depends on a material entity called RAS (reticular activating system). When the brain dies, the RAS dies also, and consciousness is forever extinguished. Belief in conscious life after death is belief against the available evidence. Not a good idea.
2007-11-04 12:12:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ethical dualism? If that's what you mean, no, it isn't any longer an phantasm. that's a classification used to describe many suggestions. it would could look concrete to be an phantasm. EDIT: And in case you mean innovations/physique (that's the way some have interpreted it in this website), of course it is not an phantasm.
2016-11-10 06:18:25 · answer #4 · answered by larrinaga 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Brain injuries explain a lot. I don't see how a thought can exist beyond the brain. I have yet to see proof of a ghost. I want to believe but I caan't commit until there is proof. But I do wish I had a soul.
2007-11-04 05:41:24 · answer #5 · answered by Bobby K 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe in souls, its a word christians gave meaning to. When its only the mental state of our bodies. I don't believe they are ever seperated.
2007-11-04 05:39:18 · answer #6 · answered by Emily 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm pretty certain most of us are non-dualists. I personally think that the mind is a manifestation of physical events in the brain, but some atheists will disagree.
2007-11-04 05:38:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our mental capacities are driven by our physical brain. Once that ends so does the mind end.
2007-11-04 05:40:39 · answer #8 · answered by punch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe the mind is a product of the brain.
(Until new evidence comes to light).
2007-11-04 05:38:41 · answer #9 · answered by skeptic 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe that Duality is a paradigm which can be transcended or retained.
2007-11-04 05:42:14 · answer #10 · answered by Hooded Voodoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋