Anomalous monism

Rene Descartes proposes a variant of substance dualism that maintains the equal and distinct existence of physical and mental substances. Descartes (1641) discusses that bodies are physical substances because they extend outward and occupy spatial regions while the human mind is a mental substance because it cannot extend through space (P.165). Descartes also notes fundamental differences on their activities; the human body is passive because it cannot think while the mind can handle complex mental processes and actively conjure original ideas (P.166). Despite the differences, the separation is still functional because the two substances connect in a strong relationship to account for causal interactions (P.168). As a result, under the assumption that the human body and the human mind possess contrasting properties, it follows that they exist as separate substances. Descartes (1641) defends substance dualism by showing that only physical substances are separable into independent parts. Descartes observes that the human body functions as physically divided appendages connected through a biological relationship (P.172-173). In addition, the human body dedicates specific organs to handle biological processes, while one mind handles all the facets of will and understanding (P.172). Since the human mind is immaterial however, it retains its complete form even if the material parts of the body are detached from one another (P.172). Since only the physical body operates as the…

Substance dualism is the ontological view that there exists two sorts of substances; mental and physical (material and immaterial). The existence of the substances are fundamentally distinct and exist independently of each other. If the soul can survive the death of the body, then there is the possibility of an after-life. Plato and Descartes are notorious for substance dualism which is also known as mind-body dualism, the believe that the soul is able to live on without the presence of the…

In this paper I will explain and argue for substance dualism. Substance Dualism states that “Minds & Bodies are two different sorts of basic Substances.” Substances are things that are capable of independent existence, and that support properties or qualities. Properties are ways that substances can be, and thus can exist only by being present in a substance and cannot exist independently (Van Gulick). One substance can have different properties. “For example subatomic particles such as…

the metaphysics of ancient Hawaiians unique and reflect metaphysics of both dualistic and monistic ways of thinking? First of all, the metaphysics of old Hawai’i were unique in that they believed that mana was the universal energy that connected everything and everyone in a universal process. Neither Plato’s metaphysics nor Aristotle’s metaphysics have a similar universal primordial force in Western ways of thinking and this is because they are relatively substance oriented, not process…

Dualism can be defined as dividing life into two separate categories, the first being secular and the second being spiritual. Secular involves things within the physical and changing world in which humans live. Sacred includes things related to the spiritual and unchanging existence of God. Secular is evident in places/activities such as education, business, arts, sciences, government, hobbies, and entertainment. Sacred is only involved in church-related activities. However, secular/sacred…

should be defined and use from a philosophy of mind point of view. In this paper, we will first, make a clear explanation of what Davidson is trying to express with his anomalous monism, which is the primary theory describe in “Mental Events”. Some background plus the main three principles will be explained.…

Dualism: Cartesian Substance Dualism Substance dualism is the thesis that there are substances of two fundamentally and irreducibly distinct kinds in this world, namely mind and bodies. Dualism of this form contrasts with monism which is defined as all thing in the world are substances of one kind either only mind or only body. According to the Cartesian substance dualism, minds are not identical with material things, minds could exist even if no material thing existed. Mind is thought to be…

1.Event-Causal Model of Human Agency and Its Difficulties Davidson proposes a ‘single line’ event-causal model of human agency, attempting to bring intentional states and actions into a single causal chain: an agent’s intentional states (or events), such as beliefs, desires and intentions, cause some bodily movement called ‘basic action’ to happen. There are different descriptions of this basic action, and under some of them, this action is intentional. (Davidson 2001/1963, 2001/1971) Even…