Soul Mind And Body Flashcards
(16 cards)
Plato and the soul initial
Plato was deeply influenced by Pythagorean thought, which emphasised the distinction between the spiritual soul and the material body. There is no permanence in the visible world, as everything dies, however, Plato sought out a world were there was permanence, which brought upon his theory of the forms.
The relationship of body and soul in Plato
Plato does not clarify the relationship that the body has with the spiritual body. Plato’s soul ultimately desires to leave the body, but is forced to do things with limbs such as eating and sleeping. However he does not expand on what makes us do so, his consciousness is not explored. Therefore he makes the mistake of assuming the reason (wanting to leave) is the cause (of moving).
Plato’s death is just the shaking of the ‘shell’.
Plato and Christianity
For Plato, the soul is without beginning, and is eternal by nature.
This differs to Christina thought, which says that god creates each soul at conception, and god can destroy a soul due to his omnipotence, and if the soul is immortal, it is a gift by god and not intrinsic to the soul.
Aristotle and the soul
Aristotle is a materialist. He believes that the soul has three elements…
The vegetative soul, shared with all living things, including plants.
The appetitive soul, in which we find passions and appetites, such as hunger.
The intellectual soul, rational and directive thought. (Only to humans)
Aquinas and the legacy of Aristotle
‘The human soul, which is called the intellect or the mind, is something incorporeal and subsistent.’
Dualism
The belief that we have two elements, body and soul
Monism
The view that we are one substance, not two
Materialism
The belief that the only substance is a material one
Descartes and substance dualism
Descartes says that the mind and body cannot be separate in his meditations of first philosophy, as the body cannot be separated by the mind can. He says that the ‘same mind that wills, senses or understands’ is not made by parts as it is one. But the body has different parts. So therefore he believes the mind is purely spiritual, and ‘the mind is wholly different from the body’.
This approach creates some difficulties. How do they interconnect, the spiritual mind and the physical body? Descartes expands on the faculties of the mind in his ‘the passions of the soul’. ‘There is a little gland in the brain where the soul exercises its functions more particularly that in the other parts of the body’. Saying where the link is does not clarify how the link happens, so Descartes dies not explain the mind body problem well.
Gilbert Ryle
He objects to Descartes with a category error. He says that Descartes treats mind and matter as the same level of naming, even though they are not. He uses three examples.
1. Supposed foreigner visited Cambridge, and saw all the different types of uni buildings, but then asks, where is the uni? He made a category error.
His point is that Descartes separates the mind and the body too much. They are interconnected and he categorises them wrongly. The mind is intrinsic to the person and is not foreignly affecting the mind as Descartes suggests.
Category error
Mistakenly treating something as being of one type when it is another
John hick
John hick is similar to ryle. He thinks that we are our bodies, but there is a spiritual dimension. There is no mind without matter. Thinking in this way is not reductionist. Hick also believes that the soul does not die or end, but appears before the Christian god at death in preparation for his grace and eternal life. He believes life is a preparation for this.
G.E.M Anscombe
She considers the action of pointing. If I point at something, the mere action is not the whole of its meaning. To point at a chess piece would indicate something, but even the highest description of the action could not communicate the intention of the action. For that intellect is needed. However it is impossible to communicate without the body. Therefore she points out the togetherness of the spirit and body. (Dualism)
Richard Dawkins
Materialist thinker. Believes in the conscience as a result of the material body. He rejects the disembodied soul of Descartes and Plato.
Dawkins does make a point to soul one and soul two. Soul one is the classic separate soul that he rejects. Soul two is his soul, which he points to imagination, higher thinking etc. he thins science can explain it.
Behaviourism (b.f skinner)
Behaviourism is that all human thoughts and actions are learned.
Pavlovs dogs can be brought up.
For skinner, mental acts are caused acts, exploitable at a physical level.
Objections to behaviourism
Daniel.c.dennet:
Over simplifies human conscience. A pigeon is not the same as a human. If I were to read a book and someone asked why I was reading this book, I would tell them my specific goals. To reduce this to a learned behaviour misses the point of human development. Dennet argues that skinner would be right if my argument ended with ‘I have a desire’. There is something more to human thought that cause and effect.
