Soul, Mind and Body Flashcards
(40 cards)
Dualism
The belief that the body and soul are two separate entities (Plato)
Plato’s view on the soul
The soul is eternal, it temporarily inhabits the body- giving it life.
It knows the truth through reason and is capable of understanding the forms.
It has 3 basic instincts; appetite, emotion and reason.
The Form of the good
This is where the soul originally comes from. After death, the soul is returned to the form of the good where it is able to complete contemplation.
Socrates
Life is part of the essence of the soul, so it is necessary for it to keep on living.
Intuition
Plato believed that humans are born with an intuition as our souls once lived in the world on perfect forms.
He used an example of a slave boy who had no education but was able to solve a simple geometry puzzle with knowledge he already had.
Plato’s view on the physical body
The body is the temporary, physical part of a person, and the soul is the essential, immaterial aspect.
It can only learn things through physical experience.
It is in a constant change of state so cannot be the source of knowledge.
3 basic instincts
Reason: highest, distinguishes between right and wrong
Emotion: love, acting out of courage
Appetite: Looking after the physical self
Aristotle on the body
The body and soul are inseparable.
The body is constantly changing.
It is the material cause of a person.
Aristotle on the soul
The soul is a substance, and it is inseparable from the body.
It stays the same in terms of continuing identity- our bodies change but we are still the same person because of the soul.
The soul as the formal cause
Aristotle believed that the soul was the formal cause of humans- it is effectively what makes us human.
It is our capabilities.
It gives matter form, efficiency and final purpose.
It is the principle of animal life; it distinguishes living things from non-living ones.
Nutritive soul
One type of soul for Aristotle.
It is the soul plants have that means they are capable of getting nourishment and reproducing.
Perceptive soul
One type of soul for Aristotle.
It is the soul animals have that allows them to distinguish between pleasure and pain and react to stimuli.
Human’s soul
One type of soul for Aristotle.
It gives us the ability to reason right from wrong.
It is the higher degree of soul.
Consciousness
Awareness or perception.
Materialist view of the body
We are simply bodies and nothing more.
The mind
The activity of physical matter.
It is our intelligence and emotions, helping us form judgements and hold memories.
Substance dualism
The belief that the mind and body are separate substances that both exist.
Substances are subjects that have various properties.
Properties cannot exist on their own.
These 2 distinct substances are attached to form a human.
Descartes’ hyperbolic doubt
He thought about all things that could be known and rejected them if there was any doubt of certain truth.
He accepted that our senses can be mistaken so we cannot be sure of the knowledge we acquire through them.
The ‘first certainty’ is that we are able to think sceptically.
We cannot doubt our existence as thinkers because we have to think in order to doubt.
“I think therefore I am”
Descartes on the body and soul
rrrrHe believed that the body and mind are two distinct substances that make up humans because:
It is certain that we have minds because we can doubt.
We cannot be certain that we have bodies because it could be our senses deceiving us.
The body has distinct parts whereas the mind cannot be divided.
Pineal gland
For Descartes, this was the link between the soul and body due to its singularity and centrality.
“Principle seat of the soul”
Not entirely clear how this works.
Property dualism
The view that the mind and body have different properties but the same substance.
Humans are made up of 1 material (physical substance) and 2 properties (mental properties and physical properties).
Physical = size, mass, shape
Mental = opinions, emotions, memories
John Stuart Mill
Emergent dualism- physical things become more complex and new properties emerge.
They cannot be reduced to the material therefore the mind has its own existence in some sense but not a completely separate substance from the material.
Reductive materialism
The view that the mind is identical to this physical brain.
Mental states such as memory, pain, happiness and desire are chemical reactions happening in particular parts of the brain.
Mental events and physical events are identical - Edwin Boring
There is nothing more to a person than physical substance, so there is no life after death.
Consciousness dies with the body.
Gilbert Ryle
Materialist view
Talking of self or soul is a mistake in the way we use language.
“Team spirit” is not a physical thing to be found, so similarly, the mind should not be considered as something separate from the body.
The consciousness is a way of describing a person’s functions, not an addition to the physical body.