Self, Death And The Afterlife Flashcards
What are the three main concepts of our personal identities
• Personal identity is merely physical
•Personal identity is metaphysical
•Personal identity is psychological
Dualism
The sould and body are separate and exist independently to each other.
Monism
The belief that the mind is intrinsically linked to the body they are one and can not exist independently of each other.
Substance dualism
Belief held by Descartes - the velief that the mind ( soul ) is a completely different substance to the substance of the physical body.
Plato as a dualist
He believed everything had a version of itself that is perfect and eternal, a World Of Forms that our world is a mere imperfect reflection of.
He said that our Psche (soul) is the perfect form of us, eternal, and it comes to earth imprisoned within our physical bodies. After death ideally it returns to the world of forms.
How does Platos Charioteer analogy split ourselves (3parts)
☆The rational part, our immortal soul attempting to reign in other parts
☆Thumos- the emotional part the white horse of spirit
☆Apatitive part- desires and hunger the dark horse of desire
Descartes beliefs on the soul ( 3 proofs )
He was a substance dualist, who had 3 proofs of the existence of the soul:
ARGUMENT FROM DOUBT
He could doubt the existence of his body
His ability to think of his body means he cannot disprove he is a thinking being
Therefore there is a part of himself that is independent to his body.
ARGUMENT FROM NON DIVISIBILITY
All bodies make up space so are divisible, eg if your arm was chopped off your mind remains intact fully
Mental states do not
They must be radically different
ARGUMENT FROM CLEAR AND DISTINCT PERCEPTION
He percieves two distinct substances as that is what God created
He and his body can exist apart
His soul cannot decay as it doesn’t take up space
What is Aristotles view on the soul
Aristotle was a monist ,who believed the mind and body are inextricably linked. The soul shapes and gives life to the body. Only the human soul has the capacity for rational thought. But one cannot exist without the other.
Quote from Aristotle on soul
” Suppose that the eye were an animal - sight would have been its soul”
How do the completely different substances of mind and soul interact according to Descartes
Pineal gland in brain
This has been discredited, it regulates hormones in sleep. But at Descartes time it’s function was unknown. (also support for a God of the gaps)
Materialism
The belief that the mind is physical and can be reduced to the brain which can be reduced to the body. Consciousness is just electrochemical gradients.
Functionalism is one type.
It believes that the mind is just what it does
It is a system that processes info inputted from sense experience and generates an appropriate outcome
No reason our brain couldn’t be uploaded on a computer. Libets experiments support this.
Example and quote from materialist
Dawkins,
” Life is just bytes” of digital information.
We are DNA and its genetic code, we cight to survive but there is no immortal soul guiding us, this is wish fulfillment.
Dual aspect monsim
The view that mind and matter are two aspects of one unknown substance.
The brain is observable by science and purely physical but there is subjective conscience like the smell of coffee being different to each person ( Qualia ). Still a monist and reductionist view but almost a middle ground.
Quote from Descartes on the only thing he can know for certain
” Cogito ergo sum “
I think therefore I am
Hicks replica theory
He says God is omnipotent so can do anything, even create our physical bodies again in heaven, as exact replicas
What does Wittgenstein use to combat Physicalsit views that we are just identical machines
Qualia- Our own unique exsperieneces that differ for no reason between people. Like the smell of coffee.
His peer Negal used the example of the life of a bat- we can know all the biological complexities of a bat. But we could never understand what it is to be one.
