ON HUMAN NATURE:

THE MIND-BODY Dr. Noorunnisa Khan

Session 9

PROBLEM
Do you think of yourself as a thinking mind; that is, do you think
that the real “you” is that part of you that right now is thinking,
feeling & perceiving? Or do you think that the real you includes
your body?
BRAINSTORMING

• What is mind? What are some of its qualities?

• List four qualities of mind that is lacked in body
• List four qualities of body that is lacked in mind
MIND & BODY
• To most of us it is obvious that we have a mind and a body. But,
considering their qualities we get to know that they are distinct
• One of the distinct quality of mind is consciousness
• Consciousness is what allows us to be aware of both our
surroundings and our inner states
• Consciousness ins subjective
THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
Generally Speaking Mind-Body problem includes two main
questions:
1. What is mind?
2. How is it connected with matter, namely a brain?
ANSWERS…
Generally speaking there two possible answers to these questions:
1. On the one hand, it’s possible to state that Mind is not a
material or physical one; therefore, it’s somehow connected with a
body, but not reduced to it.
2. On the one hand, we can assert that the mind it something
material; therefore Mind is just a part of body.
THE MAIN ARGUMENT OF THE
FIRST POINT OF VIEW IS THE
FOLLOWING…
• It’s impossible to observe our thought as a physical phenomenon
and, that there is no access to our mental life, which consists of
private non-observed experience.
For example, when we conceive a yellow lemon or a pink
elephant it doesn’t mean that someone can find them in my brain.
The lemon and the elephant as my mental images are
nonphysical objects.
•Therefore mind is not a material entity.
A CENTRAL ARGUMENT OF
THE SECOND POINT OF VIEW
CLAIMS THAT…
It’s pretty obvious and evident that Mind is related to the brain and
physical processes in the brain.
For instance, some brain traumas might cause changes in mental states.
Moreover, when we affect on the brain (particular parts of brain) some
specific mental states can be caused as hallucinations or uncommon
sensual states.
In these cases, a brain can be considered as a material part of a material
body.
Consequently the mind is a material entity.
DUALISM & PHYSICALISM
According to these two approaches, we can distinguish two main
theories in Philosophy of mind;
• Dualism
• Physicalism
CARTESIAN DUALISM
4 main thesis of Descartes dualism:
1. There substances of two fundamentally different kinds in the world, mind
and bodies. The essential nature of a body is to be extended in space; the
essence of a mind is to think and engage in other mental activities.
2. A human person is a composite being (“union”, as Descartes called it) of a
mind and a body;
3. Minds are diverse from bodies;
4. Minds and bodies causally influence each other. Some mental phenomena
are causes of physical phenomena and vice versa. (Interactionism)
ARGUMENTS FOR THE THESIS
THAT MINDS AND BODIES ARE
DISTINCT
Argument 1 derived from Cogito urgo sum
• ‘I think’ cannot be doubted.
•What am I? I am a thing that thinks. I cannot doubt this, yet I can
doubt whether I have a body. So I can be separated from a body.
• Therefore, the thinking thing that I am is not identical with my
body
•The mind is a separate substance from the body.
ARGUMENT 2
• My mind is transparent to me - that is, nothing can be in my mind
without my knowing that it is there;
•My body is not transparent to me in the same;
•Therefore, my mind is not identical with my body.
ARGUMENT 3
•My essential nature is to be a thinking thing;
• My body, essential nature is to be an extended thing in space;
• Therefore, I am not identical with my body. And since I am a
thinking thing (namely a mind), my mind is not identical with my
body.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
DUALISM
• CANNOT BE SCIENTIFICALLY INVESTIGATED
• EVOLUTION CANNOT BE EXPLAINED
• HOW IS INTERACTION BETWEEN MIND AND BODY ARE
POSSIBLE?
• BRAIN DAMAGE CUASES CHANGES IN MENTAL
PROPERTIES
PHYSICALISM
•Everything in the world, including “minds”, is physical;
“Monism’
•Philosophers who support this theory try to prove that mental
states and physical states are the same, but because of number of
errors (for example of language), we face the delusion that there
are two realities – physical and mental.
TYPES OF PHYSICALISM
PHYSICALISM breaks down into a number of distinct sub-
theories:
• Identity Theory – Mental life and Brain processes are the same.
•Behaviourism – Mental life and Behaviour are the same.
 Brain States

IDENTITY THEORY Mental States

• J. J. C. Smart propounded this theory

•According to this theory “mental states and events are in fact
identical to particular brain processes and events, even if viewed
from two perspectives and described in two different languages”.
•It does not say that all brain states are mental states.
•We might characterize it: certain brain states are mental states.
IDENTITY THEORY
For example consider the statement «pains are C-fiber
excitations».
This is something explained as follows: «For a person (organism)
to be in pain is for him to be in the C-fiber excitation state».
ARGUMENT FOR IDENTITY
THEORY
• Non-Physical entity cannot evolve or arise from Physical entity
• Changes in brain causes changes in mental states
•Case of Phineas Gage
CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE
CRITICISM ON IDENTITY
THEORY
• Mental states and Brain states are different
• In order to be identical they must have same qualities
 BEHAVIOURSIM
• Behaviourists deny the existence of the mind altogether
• An influential 20th-century British philosopher, Gilbert Ryle, was a chief advocate
of Philosophical Behaviourism
• He criticized Descartes dualism as “ Descartes myths” and “the dogma of the
Ghost in the Machine”
• “Category mistake”
• Mental state, in fact, is a pattern of behaviour or a disposition/tendency to behave in
certain way in certain circumstances
For e.g. Being irritated is not a private feeling in mind rather it is having a tendency
to shout, stamp one’s feet, and answer people rudely.
CRITICISM ON
BEHAVIOURISM
• How to differentiate between one who is actually in pain or
pretending to be in pain
•Qualia: What it feels like
• No explanation for the difference between self-knowledge and
knowledge of others
• Pain of the paralyzed