René Magritte

One can view the mind-body problem to differentiate his or her mental and physical perspective. An individual can address his or her perspective as a monist, dualist or functionalist. Monism is a philosophical approach of the universe being ultimately one thing or substance. (26) For instance, a monist would be a belief that there is only one God. Furthermore, dualists hold the belief that the mind and body have two opposite principles. (28) An example of dualism would be evil vs. good. In…

Rene Descartes published his Meditations back in 1641, eight years after Galileo discovered that the Earth was not the center of the universe but, in fact, the sun was the center. This shook many people’s ideologies on what they knew on religion, their senses, and what it meant to gain knowledge. While Rene Descartes is very well known for his Cogito erg Sum ( I think therefore I am), he also came up with a theory of Substance Dualism. Substance Dualism is Rene Descartes way of explaining the…

Heidegger sought to radicalize the traditional understanding of what it means to be human and the transform the ‘common sense’ approach held by the tradition by reawakening the question of the meaning of being; however, he arrived too early. Even though his unfinished edifice was successfully nailed on the door of Cartesian tradition long ago; the discussion fell, and is still falling, upon deaf ears. This split with the tradition led him to a disagreement with his old master Edmund Husserl…

How does this music make you feel? What do you think of the music being played? What is your mind telling you? What is your heart telling you? These questions are some of the most frequently asked questions in not only the music world, but also in the world itself. Such questions categorize your emotions, identity, and aesthetics into two categories: how you mentally and emotionally interact towards one thing or the other. Such inquiries demonstrate the separate complexities of the mind and the…

Part One: Area of Philosophy In the event of the terrible accident on Hooper avenue, the doctors have done medical magic to save the person who was killed by the cement truck by transplanting their brain into the person of the opposite gender who had a stroke upon witnessing this event. While the mere act of even doing this type of transplant would fall under the philosophy branch of ethics, what we are talking about today my friends is what the result of this transplant and how would this…

How should the Mind/Body Problem be solved? Introduction The mind and body problem has been around for many years and since then many solutions to the problem have been offered, yet none have been widely accepted. The mind and body seem to be two very different substances, however, the question poses. How do they interact? How can a mind effect the body if it’s a different entity and how can the body effect the mind? Although this problem may appear simple, it is yet to have a satisfactory…

In Meditations of First Philosophy, Descartes explains philosophical meditations written over six days. The Second Meditation concerns the nature of the human mind. Descartes argues that the human mind is better known than the body. A major claim of his is his most famous quote “I think, therefore I am,” meaning a thinking thing, such as himself, can exist. In this essay, I will prove that Descartes’ argument in the Second Meditation for his existence as a thinking thing is convincing. First, I…

The second meditation continues Descartes search for one main concern of how he cannot be certain of anything. He has reached the conclusion of a clearer understanding of the physical world and how it comes from the use of judgement and reason, as opposed to relying solely on what ‘appears to be the case’ through perception of the senses and use of the imagination. Ultimately, then, I think the true nature of things in the external world are not revealed fully. How do I really know what is for…

INTRODUCTION: The following are argument analysis of arguments that mainly comprises the “Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous” and “Treatise concerning the principle of Human Knowledge” both written by George Berkley , who is an Irish philosopher and coined the philosophical concept called “immaterialism” which denies that materials exist in the world and are the fundamental building blocks of reality , indeed it says that it is the ideas which really exist in the minds of the…

Dualism and Logical Behaviorism Each and every day, people connect with the world through various mental and physical involvements. Physical experiences are bodily actions, which include breathing, consuming, drinking, sleeping, talking, and walking to name a few. Mental experiences are actions of the mind, which include numerous emotions, needing, determining, questioning, recalling and the list keeps going. For years, philosophers have debated the understanding of these feelings and…