Soul, mind and body Flashcards
(40 cards)
What is dualism?
The belief that humans are made of two distinct substances – mind (or soul) and body.
What is monism?
The belief that humans are one unified substance – no separate soul.
Plato’s view on the soul:
Dualist – soul is immortal, immaterial, and the real ‘self’, temporarily trapped in the body.
Plato’s analogy of the charioteer:
The soul is a charioteer (reason) controlling two horses: one of spirit (emotion) and one of appetite (desire).
Plato: the soul’s purpose?
To escape the physical world and return to the realm of Forms.
Aristotle on the soul:
Monist – soul is the “form” of the body, not separate from it. It gives life but does not survive death.
Aristotle’s analogy of the axe:
The soul is to the body as sharpness is to an axe – not a separate part but its function.
What is substance dualism?
Belief in two distinct substances: physical (body) and non-physical (mind/soul).
What is property dualism?
Body and mind are the same substance, but the mind has special, non-physical properties (like consciousness).
Descartes’ dualism summary:
“I think therefore I am” – the mind can exist without the body, proving they are separate substances.
What is the ‘cogito’ argument?
Descartes’ idea that the act of thinking proves the existence of the thinker.
What is Cartesian dualism?
Descartes’ belief in two distinct substances – res cogitans (thinking thing) and res extensa (extended thing).
What is materialism?
Belief that only physical substances exist – mind/soul is just brain activity.
What is Gilbert Ryle’s critique of dualism?
He called it the “ghost in the machine” – dualism is a category mistake.
Ryle’s ‘category mistake’ explained:
Saying soul and body are separate is like thinking “university” is a separate building from its colleges.
What is behaviourism?
The idea that mental states are observable behaviours – no hidden mind or soul.
Key thinker: B.F. Skinner
Radical behaviourist who believed all thoughts/emotions are learned behaviours.
What is functionalism?
The mind is what the brain does – like software running on hardware.
What is the soul in Christianity?
The immortal part of humans that survives death and is judged by God.
What does Aquinas say about the soul?
Influenced by Aristotle – soul is the form of the body, but can survive death due to intellect.
Richard Dawkins on the soul:
Soul is a myth – humans are “survival machines” for genes.
What is Soul 1 and Soul 2 (Dawkins)?
Soul 1 = traditional spiritual soul (rejected)
Soul 2 = mental/emotional development (accepted as metaphor).
What is epiphenomenalism?
The view that mental states are by-products of physical processes – like steam from a train.
What is qualia?
The subjective, first-person experience (e.g. what red feels like).
