The beginning of understanding oneself starts with identity. For centuries, philosophers have contemplated a common issue known as the mind-body problem. The mind-body problem is a philosophical problem that asks the question of what we as people are. Are people a mind, a body, or a combination of the two? There are several major works that pertain to this problem, but this argument will focus on those given by Gilbert Ryle, Rene Descartes, and Richard Taylor. Descartes is the oldest and perhaps most well-known of the three, who takes the stance that we are closest to a mind. Ryle’s work is a direct response to Descartes’ mind theory that attempts to dismiss and show absurdity in Descartes’ argument. Finally, Taylor’s piece is an argument against
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In fact, Ryle’s argument is a direct response and counter to the idea of the ghost in the machine. In essence, Ryle thinks that viewing the body and mind as separate entities instead two halves of a whole, or two sides of the same coin, is foolish and absurd. He calls this error a “category mistake”. By category mistake, Ryle means to say that it “represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one logical type or category when they actually belong to another”. His example of a category mistake would be a person who is touring a university campus. They are shown a library, a cafeteria, a lecture hall, a research facility, and etc, and upon finishing the tour ask “but where is the university?”. Ryle wishes to demonstrate that the mind and body together make up the person and that a person is not a separate entity from the two, but in fact composed of both, as a university is composed of many buildings, so is a person composed of both a body and mind. To follow, Ryle states that it is ridiculous to believe one is only a mind and still attempt to live in the world. In Ryle’s essay, he claims that the workings of people in the physical world are public, and the workings of the mental, private. But, Ryle states that the “only through the physical world can one affect someone else 's mental existence.” As such, living one’s life believing they are only a mind causes one live a less than meaningful …show more content…
Like Ryle, Taylor’s argument is an attempt to demonstrate the ridiculousness of Descartes’ theory. Taylor claims that “all forms of dualism arise from the alleged disparity between persons and physical objects.” In this case, Taylor is correct, the majority of his essay goes on to address the differences between the “body and soul”, and as well as how the soul is logically flawed. The core of Taylor’s argument is on how the concept of the soul itself is far too ambiguous for it to be a worthwhile point to contemplate. This is because “there are no positive properties of any ‘soul’”. Taylor states that the best we can do is that an extra something is required to set apart a body from a
In fact, Ryle’s argument is a direct response and counter to the idea of the ghost in the machine. In essence, Ryle thinks that viewing the body and mind as separate entities instead two halves of a whole, or two sides of the same coin, is foolish and absurd. He calls this error a “category mistake”. By category mistake, Ryle means to say that it “represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one logical type or category when they actually belong to another”. His example of a category mistake would be a person who is touring a university campus. They are shown a library, a cafeteria, a lecture hall, a research facility, and etc, and upon finishing the tour ask “but where is the university?”. Ryle wishes to demonstrate that the mind and body together make up the person and that a person is not a separate entity from the two, but in fact composed of both, as a university is composed of many buildings, so is a person composed of both a body and mind. To follow, Ryle states that it is ridiculous to believe one is only a mind and still attempt to live in the world. In Ryle’s essay, he claims that the workings of people in the physical world are public, and the workings of the mental, private. But, Ryle states that the “only through the physical world can one affect someone else 's mental existence.” As such, living one’s life believing they are only a mind causes one live a less than meaningful …show more content…
Like Ryle, Taylor’s argument is an attempt to demonstrate the ridiculousness of Descartes’ theory. Taylor claims that “all forms of dualism arise from the alleged disparity between persons and physical objects.” In this case, Taylor is correct, the majority of his essay goes on to address the differences between the “body and soul”, and as well as how the soul is logically flawed. The core of Taylor’s argument is on how the concept of the soul itself is far too ambiguous for it to be a worthwhile point to contemplate. This is because “there are no positive properties of any ‘soul’”. Taylor states that the best we can do is that an extra something is required to set apart a body from a