Descartes's Theory Of Dualism: The Argument From Introspection

Philosophy sheds light on many themes, one of the issues philosophy contends is the understanding how mind and body are related. Rene Descartes, a father of philosophical ideology devised “The Argument from Introspection” to attempt to answer such question. The argument from introspection explains that the mind and body are two entirely separate states and therefore cannot be identical to one another. Descartes’ rationale behind the argument is that the body is separable because it can be physically transformed such as being split in half. The mind however is indivisible because in accordance to his stance, it is not a physical property. Descartes concluded that if two objects do not share identical characteristics then they could not be the …show more content…
In my opinion, despite me admiration for Descartes, I conclude that the materialist’s response is a more resilient argument. There are many aspects of the materialists approach to answering the mind body problem that I find logistical and rational. More specifically, the materialist response delivers a strong point that disproves Descartes’ entire proclamation and that is the concept of neural phenomena. Scientific data has yet to disprove that all human mental phenomena are reliant upon neural phenomena stimulated by our senses. One can never observe the human minds’ functionality without also observing the human brain operating as well. Because this correlational relationship is best illustrated by materialism (physicalism) in regards to the human mind, it is evident that materialisms’ outlook on the relationship between mind and body is true. Furthermore, the dualist explanation, specifically because it 's dualist, indicates mental phenomena as “existing over and above” their related neural occurrences: if dualism is true, then God who had already fashioned the linked neural connections would have to instill extra effort to yield a mental phenomenon. The materialist clarification, by contrast, handles mental phenomena as actually real; more specifically as physical phenomena that are recognized by their associated neural pathways. Assuming materialism is true about the human mind, then God who had already shaped the neural phenomena associated with mental phenomena would have to do no more to yield a mental phenomenon. Therefore if mental sensations are identical to certain neural occurrences, then the reason why God would not need to invest additional effort to create a