Mind, body, soul

Question 1

Dualism: Belief in two separate _____ (body and soul)
* Substance Dualism: two_______ (body and soul) are wholly different_________
* Psyche: Greek word for m___/ s___
* Materialism: One s______ and it is m_____
* Monism: One s_____not two
Reductionism: Everything can be reduced to statements about p______ b_____

Answer 1

Dualism: Belief in two separate elements (body and soul)
* Substance Dualism: two elements (body and soul) are wholly different substances
* Psyche: Greek word for mind/ soul
* Materialism: One substance and it is material
* Monism: One substance not two
Reductionism: Everything can be reduced to statements about physical bodies

Question 3

Paragraph 1: Plato’s Dualism (Soul and Body)

Answer 3

Paragraph 1: Plato’s Dualism (Soul and Body)
Soul and body are separate; soul is immortal and eternal.
- Plato believed the body was like a prison for the soul, trapping it in this world of appearances. He thought our souls came from the world of forms and had a vague memory of the forms.
Analogy of the charioteer (Reason controls spirit and appetite).
- The charioteer is reason.
- One horse is noble (spirit), the other unruly (desire).
- The soul reaches truth when reason controls both horses in harmony.
- It shows the inner conflict between reason and desire and the need for reason to lead the soul toward truth.
Argument from knowledge (learning as recollection – Meno).
Argument from opposites (life and death cycle).
Evaluation:
Strength: supports immortality of the soul.
Weakness: lacks empirical support, based on metaphysical assumptions.

Question 4

Paragraph 2: Descartes’ Substance Dualism (Mind and Body)

Answer 4

Cogito ergo sum – I think therefore I am.
Mind = res cogitans (thinking substance); Body = res extensa (extended substance).
Argument from divisibility (body can be divided, mind cannot).
Argument from doubt (can doubt body, not mind).
Evaluation:
Strength: supports personal identity over time.
Weakness: mind-body interaction problem (how can a non-physical mind affect the body?).

Question 5

Paragraph 3: Criticisms of Dualism (Gilbert Ryle & Category Mistake)

Answer 5

Ryle: Descartes commits a category mistake (e.g. visiting a university and asking “but where is the university?”).
Mind is not a separate “thing” but a way of describing behaviour.
Evaluation:
Strength: explains mental states in terms of observable behaviour.
Weakness: oversimplifies consciousness and subjective experiences.