Upon reading Smart, Putman, Descartes, and Ryle’s excerpts, I have come to believe that my mind is a physical substance of me, such as a brain. Your mental process is often called brain processes just as Smart believes through the identity theory. I also agree with Smart in the way that mental states can be physically recognized through pain, which is often called the functionalist view. Lastly, I favor the behaviorism view in which Ryle explains how mental processes are intellectual acts. On the other hand, many people believe the mind is not a physical substance. Philosophers like Descartes believe the mind can exist without the body, this is a dualism view. This view has three parts: interactionism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism which
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Philosopher, J.J. Smart often refers this to the identity theory, or the brain process thesis, or the brain-state theory. This theory simply believes that all mental states are identical to physical states. In The Norton Introduction to Philosophy text book, they refer to the example of one’s thirst drive to drink water out of a faucet on Monday, and go buy a water bottle on Tuesday’s (354). You must have a biological brain in order to have a mental life; the identity theory supports this. The identity theory believes that what you see or perceive, such as touch, goes to your sensory nerves and up your central nerve and to your brain. Smart explains this theory through explaining an orange circle that blurry yellow around the edges which he calls a temptation in which he thinks he sees upon a wall. Smart says, “That is, for a full description of what is going on in a man you would have to mention not only the physical processes in his tissue, glands, nervous system, and so forth, but also his states of consciousness: his visual, auditory, and tactical sensations, his aches and pains” (372, Rosen, Bryne, Cohen, Shiffrin). This exact evidence leads me to believe that my eyes see things that my brain, as an actual substance, interprets. This belief goes in hand with my second …show more content…
His famous quote is, “I think, therefore I am.” This view is called dualism, which is also has three versions interactionism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism. Interactionism is the view that mental and physical states are different but interact with each other, like Descartes believes. Parallelism is the view that mental and physical states occur parallel to each other and don’t interfere. Lastly, epiphenomenalism is the view that physical states can cause mental events but not vice versa. This view opposes all others because Descartes believes that your body consist of your hands, feet, head, etc., while your soul includes nourishment, sense-perception, and actions. Descartes also says, “Mind is indivisible, body is divisible; you can lose an arm and a leg and still have your mind” (362). This supports that one is aware of one’s own self. Descartes also explains the example of how one perceives wax being melted, he explains that this understanding is understood by the intellect. Yet, Descartes cannot explain how or where this sort of “soul” exist, if it is invisible, how does it exist? Physicalists, such as Ryle, Smart, and Putman, say that the mind is just the brain, or the central nervous system, and there is no entity called “the mind.” There are mental processes and states of events but these are just physical
Philosopher, J.J. Smart often refers this to the identity theory, or the brain process thesis, or the brain-state theory. This theory simply believes that all mental states are identical to physical states. In The Norton Introduction to Philosophy text book, they refer to the example of one’s thirst drive to drink water out of a faucet on Monday, and go buy a water bottle on Tuesday’s (354). You must have a biological brain in order to have a mental life; the identity theory supports this. The identity theory believes that what you see or perceive, such as touch, goes to your sensory nerves and up your central nerve and to your brain. Smart explains this theory through explaining an orange circle that blurry yellow around the edges which he calls a temptation in which he thinks he sees upon a wall. Smart says, “That is, for a full description of what is going on in a man you would have to mention not only the physical processes in his tissue, glands, nervous system, and so forth, but also his states of consciousness: his visual, auditory, and tactical sensations, his aches and pains” (372, Rosen, Bryne, Cohen, Shiffrin). This exact evidence leads me to believe that my eyes see things that my brain, as an actual substance, interprets. This belief goes in hand with my second …show more content…
His famous quote is, “I think, therefore I am.” This view is called dualism, which is also has three versions interactionism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism. Interactionism is the view that mental and physical states are different but interact with each other, like Descartes believes. Parallelism is the view that mental and physical states occur parallel to each other and don’t interfere. Lastly, epiphenomenalism is the view that physical states can cause mental events but not vice versa. This view opposes all others because Descartes believes that your body consist of your hands, feet, head, etc., while your soul includes nourishment, sense-perception, and actions. Descartes also says, “Mind is indivisible, body is divisible; you can lose an arm and a leg and still have your mind” (362). This supports that one is aware of one’s own self. Descartes also explains the example of how one perceives wax being melted, he explains that this understanding is understood by the intellect. Yet, Descartes cannot explain how or where this sort of “soul” exist, if it is invisible, how does it exist? Physicalists, such as Ryle, Smart, and Putman, say that the mind is just the brain, or the central nervous system, and there is no entity called “the mind.” There are mental processes and states of events but these are just physical