Running head: MIND/BODY PROBLEM
Mind/Body Problem in Philosophy
Harmony Robles
University of Phoenix
Mind/Body Problem in Philosophy
The mind/body problem in philosophy revolves around the argument of the relationship the mind has to the body and the different ways that the mind is defined. Different perspectives have developed over the years about the relationship the mind and the body share.
Some people believe that the mind and body are one and that the mind is just a part of the body. Other people believe that the mind and the body are two separate entities. To support the arguments of the various perspectives the realm of mind and consciousness began being discussed in philosophy. People questioned the extent to which the mind related to the physical body.
The main persp
ectives on the relationship between the mind and the body are dualism, materialism, and subjective idealism.
Materialism consists of those people who believed that the mind and body were one. Dualism is comprised of those people who believed the mind and body were separate from one another as opposed to the mind simply being a part of the body making the two just one. Subjective idealism, or immaterialism, differs from materialism and dualism in that followers of this perspective believe that there the only reality is what one perceives (Goodwin, 2005).
Rene Descartes is probably the best-known dualist. He believed the mind and body were two separate, distinct entities but that both worked and had an influence on the other.
Descartes also practiced a form of dualism called Cartesian dichotomy. This form of
dualism states that animals and humans are separate especially when speaking of the mind and body. Descartes believed that animals did not have a mind like humans due to animals being incapable of human language abilities and reasoning. He argued that because humans possessed a body and the abilities of language and reasoning they also had a mind, and because he.
..
- Unconscious Mind essays
- Age Of Enlightenment essays
- Ethos essays
- Time essays
- Acceptance essays
- Meaning Of Life essays
- Reality essays
- Natural Law essays
- Political Philosophy essays
- Utilitarianism essays
- Existence essays
- Free Will essays
- Good And Evil essays
- Confucianism essays
- Relativism essays
- Conscience essays
- Environmentalism essays
- Empiricism essays
- Epistemology essays
- Ethics essays
- Existentialism essays
- Human Nature essays
- Individualism essays
- Metaphysics essays
- Philosophy Of Life essays
- Transcendentalism essays
- Truth essays
- Destiny essays
- Determinism essays
- Fate essays
- Functionalism essays
- Philosophers essays
- Pragmatism essays
- Future essays
- Child Observation essays
- Critical Reflection essays
- Teaching Philosophy essays
- Personal Philosophy essays
- Action Speak Louder Than Words essays
- Can Money Buy Happiness essays
- Values of Life essays
- Ethical dilemma essays
- Normative Ethics essays
- Virtue Ethics essays
- Belief essays
- Deontology essays
- Moral essays
- Virtue essays
- Work Ethic essays
- Henry David Thoreau essays
