Examples Of Mind Body Dualism

Positions for Mind-Body Problem Mind-body dualism or lack thereof has been a recurring topic of discussion in philosophical discourse. Some of the positions on this mind-body problem include dualism, idealism, and materialism. Dualism is the notion that there are two fundamental states, extended and thinking substance and there are differing areas of this approach that propose their causal relationship or their independence from each other. Idealism focuses on the mind and soul aspect of dualism and explains bodily entities in mental terms rather than their dualistic interactions. Materialism, on the other hand, focuses on the opposite element of dualism and emphasizes bodies. Materialism explains mentality in physical and physiological terms, …show more content…
One of these objections is the assertion that life and consciousness cannot be explained by atomism, that pebbles do not laugh or organisms in test tubes do not live or introspect. Is this prospect of consciousness aside from atomism true, though? Materialism relative to individuals focuses mainly on brain states being identical with mental states or sensations. Do pebbles or lab organisms enclosed in tests tubes have brains and nervous systems? They do not. Animals, however, do. Animals are also conscious and have brain states which lead to sensations and perceptions such as pain, sight, auditory perception, etc. similar to those in humans because they do, in fact, have brains. Another objection to this physicalist stance could be faith based. This conjecture against materialism relies upon the denial of faith within materialism, and states that this lack of faith may lead to lack of morals and would not answer the question of where benevolence or morals come from in humans. Is it true that faith must be present for organisms to elicit what we label as morale? Absolutely not. Animals, as well as primitive human beings, exude altruistic behaviors−such as food sharing or grooming−in order to contribute to the good of the species and this correlates with the topic of natural selection, a process that occurs within all species regardless of sentient or beloved consciousness. Humans practice these same altruistic behaviors, but we give it a moral label and allow ourselves to seem superior due to our preoccupation with our own minds, or our awareness of ourselves. These types of objections to materialism seem to be a product of the fear that humans are not as special or important as we are so willing to