1.2 - Soul, Mind and Body

Question 1

What is the soul?

Answer 1

-seen differently by people, soul and mind interchange
-used to refer to self or essential part of a person
-religious believers see it as most important part of you
-non physical, capable of independence from body

Question 2

Plato’s ideas of soul, mind and body

Answer 2

-dualist understanding of the soul/body, separate entities
-thought soul left body post death and go to form world
-demands of body can impede souls progress
-life and death part of endless chain where souls reborn

Question 3

Plato’s tripartite view

Answer 3

-soul made of 3 parts, reason, appetite, emotion
-analogy of 2 horses pulling a chariot
-reason controls chariot pulled by appetite and emotion

Question 4

Substance Dualism

Answer 4

-the view that the mind and body are distinct substances with distinct sets of properties
-body = material, properties of extension
-mind/soul = immaterial properties of thought + emotion

Question 5

Property Dualism

Answer 5

-the view that there is only one kind of substance, matter
-matter has two properties, physical and mental

Question 6

Dualist criticisms

Answer 6

-our personal experience doesn’t support dualism, we feel ourselves to be united rather than separate
-doesn’t explain how mind + body work together
-how do we know others have minds if they are separate from the body

Question 7

Aristotle’s ideas of soul, mind and body

Answer 7

-he thought the soul was a substance, essence/real thing
-physical body in constant state of change but substance remains the same
-the soul is that which gives a living thing its essence
-includes the matter a of the body along with its functions

Question 8

Emergent Materialism

Answer 8

-the view that new properties emerge from physical matter as it becomes more complete
-the mind and body are different but not completely distinct

Question 9

Reductive Materialism

Answer 9

-the mind is identical with the body
-mental states (memory,fear,guilt) due to brain activity
-chemical reactions are the same thing as mental events
-materialism doesnt allow for life after death

Question 10

Materialist Criticisms

Answer 10

-the way we use language suggests we are more than a body
-materialism doesn’t explain how a chemical reaction causes mental events

Question 11

Aristotle’s various types of soul

Answer 11

-plants have a vegetative soul, no ability to reason
-animals have perceptive souls, can experience the world around them, differentiate between pleasure and pain
-humans highest degree of soul, can reason, tell right from wrong

Question 12

Descartes views

Answer 12

-wanted certainty about philosophy like maths/science
-earth is not uniquely special just part of a whole universe
-all matter in the universe was essentially the same

Question 13

Descartes hyperbolic doubt

Answer 13

-a period of research where he doubted everything
-he decided he couldn’t trust his senses to be truthful
-he decided he couldn’t be sure if maths was correct
-decided he was only sure that he exists + he could think
-‘cogito ergo sum’ ‘i think therefore i am’

Question 14

Descartes dualism

Answer 14

-thought of a human as being made of mind and body
-they couldn’t be same thing due to different properties
-the body is made of different parts but mind cant be
-thought the pineal gland connected soul and body

Question 15

Gilbert Ryle’s views

Answer 15

-criticised the notion that the mind and body are separate
-made fun of descartes beliefs saying a separate mind and body is like a ‘ghost in the machine’
-mind and body distinction is a category mistake, not in same logical category so cant be two different things of a similar logical kind

Question 16

Ryle’s cricket match analogy

Answer 16

-someone watches a cricket match, sees the tactics and players but asks where the team spirit is
-this suggests the team spirit is a separate thing whereas its simply the way players interact with eachother
-in the same way the mind should not be considered to be something separate and extra

Question 17

Dawkins materialist views

Answer 17

-no part of a person is non physical, only matter exists
-rules out any possibility of consciousness after death
-consciousness cannot be separated from the brain

Question 18

Dawkins ‘survival machines’ theory

Answer 18

-dismisses the idea that we have any kind of soul
-humans are the vehicles of genes, only interested in replicating themselves to survive to next generation
-knew genes could not actually think this, just an analogy
-human beings are simply a mixture of chemicals

Question 19

Dawkins soul one and soul two views

Answer 19

-two different ways of understanding the soul
-soul one is the viewpoint which claims the soul is a supernatural part of a person capable of surviving death
-soul two (dawkins belief) refers to someones personality and individuality, they have a life and make choices

Question 20

Antony Flew’s views

Answer 20

-the talk of the soul living on after death is nonsensical
-speaking of someones mind or personality as substance is misuse of the term
-mind or personality is simply the behaviour of a person