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W 1he Lheory LhaL Lhere ls a mlnd or soul separaLe from Lhe body ls called
duallsm Cn Lhe oLher hand Lhe Lheory LhaL Lhe mlnd or soul ls really an
aspecL or funcLlon of Lhe braln ls called maLerlallsm or physlcallsm 1he
ploneer scholar who lnLroduced and became famous wlLh Lhe Lheory of
duallsm was 8ene uescarLes Pe was known as Lhe scholar who makes
duallsm as one of Lhe debaLable lssue and glves an lmpacL Lo Lhe fleld of
phllosophy
W Accordlng Lo 8ene uescarLes Lhere are Lhree klnds of ob[ecLs or subsLance
ln Lhe unlverse whlch are Lhe eLernal subsLance (Cod) Pls creaLlon ln
Lerms of mlnd and Pls creaLlon ln Lerms of maLLer uescarLes belleve LhaL
we are Lhlnklng subsLance or embodled mlnds 1he Lwo klnds of
subsLances whlch make us each a person lnLeracL ln such a way LhaL Lhey
causally acL upon each oLher AlLhough lL mlghL be LhaL a mlnd lnLeracLs
wlLh each parL of lLs body separaLely uescarLes' vlew ls LhaL mlnd
lnLeracLs only wlLh Lhe braln 1hls shows LhaL he flrmly belleved LhaL Lhe
braln ls Lhe medlum beLween mlnd and body Cnly braln lnLerpreL whaL
does mlnd feel deslre Lhlnk and so on 1hen Lhe braln sends Lhe message
Lo Lhe body Lo do Lhe acLlon
W uescarLes ln hls asslons of Lhe Soul and 1he uescrlpLlon of Lhe Puman
8ody suggesLed LhaL Lhe body works llke a machlne LhaL lL has Lhe
maLerlal properLles of exLenslon and moLlon and LhaL lL follows Lhe laws
of physlcs 1he mlnd (or soul) on Lhe oLher hand was descrlbed as a
nonmaLerlal enLlLy LhaL lacks exLenslon and moLlon and does noL follow
Lhe laws of physlcs uescarLes argued LhaL only humans have mlnds and
LhaL Lhe mlnd lnLeracLs wlLh Lhe body aL Lhe plneal gland 1hls form of
duallsm or duallLy proposes LhaL Lhe mlnd conLrols Lhe body buL LhaL Lhe
body can also lnfluence Lhe oLherwlse raLlonal mlnd such as when people
acL ouL of passlon
W uescarLes concepLlon of Lhe relaLlon beLween mlnd and body was qulLe
dlfferenL from LhaL held ln Lhe ArlsLoLellan LradlLlon lor ArlsLoLle Lhere ls
no exacL sclence of maLLer Pow maLLer behaves ls essenLlally affecLed by
Lhe form LhaL ls ln lL ?ou cannoL comblne [usL any maLLer wlLh any form
you cannoL make a knlfe ouL of buLLer nor a human belng ouL of paper
so Lhe naLure of Lhe maLLer ls a necessary condlLlon for Lhe naLure of Lhe
subsLance 8uL Lhe naLure of Lhe subsLance does noL follow from Lhe
naLure of lLs maLLer alone Lhere ls no 'boLLLom up' accounL of subsLances
MaLLer ls a deLermlnable made deLermlnaLe by form 1hls was how
ArlsLoLle LhoughL LhaL he was able Lo explaln Lhe connecLlon of soul Lo
body a parLlcular soul exlsLs as Lhe organlzlng prlnclple ln a parLlcular
parcel of maLLer
W |nea| G|and
W uescarLes has descrlbed Lhe place ln Lhe braln where Lhe
lnLeracLlon beLween mlnd and braln Look place Pe sald 1he parL
of Lhe body ln whlch Lhe soul exerclses lLs funcLlon lmmedlaLely ls ln
nowlse Lhe hearL nor Lhe whole of Lhe braln buL merely Lhe mosL
lnward of all lLs parL Lo wlL a cerLaln very small gland whlch ls
slLuaLed ln Lhe mlddle of lLs subsLance" uescarLes ldenLlfled Lhls
seaL of consclousness wlLh Lhe plneal gland uescarLes sLressed LhaL
lLs funcLlons ls as Lhe lnLermedlary LhaL LransmlLs Lhe effecLs of Lhe
mlnd Lo Lhe braln and Lhe effecLs of Lhe braln Lo Lhe mlnd
W uescarLes suggesLed LhaL Lhe plneal gland ls Lhe seaL of Lhe soul
for several reasons llrsL Lhe soul ls unlLary and unllke many areas
of Lhe braln Lhe plneal gland appeared Lo be unlLary (Lhough
subsequenL mlcroscoplc lnspecLlon has revealed lL ls formed of Lwo
hemlspheres) 1he plneal gland ls a small endocrlne gland ln Lhe
verLebraLe braln lL produces melaLonln a hormone LhaL affecLs Lhe
modulaLlon of wake and sleep paLLerns and phoLoperlodlc
(seasonal) funcLlons lL ls shaped llke a Llny plne cone and ls locaLed
near Lhe cenLer of Lhe braln beLween Lhe Lwo hemlspheres Lucked
ln a groove where Lhe Lwo rounded Lhalamlc bodles [oln
W Second uescarLes observed LhaL Lhe plneal gland was locaLed near
Lhe venLrlcles Pe belleved Lhe cerebrosplnal fluld of Lhe venLrlcles
acLed Lhrough Lhe nerves Lo conLrol Lhe body and LhaL Lhe plneal
gland lnfluenced Lhls process Modern neurophyslology has shown
uescarLes was wrong abouL Lhls buL LhaL doesn'L affecL Lhe cenLral
Lhesls of uescarLes' Lheory Lven lf he was wrong abouL Lhe preclse
deLalls of Lhe lnLeracLlon duallsL lnLeracLlonlsm could sLlll be Lhe
correcL accounL of menLal acLlvlLy
W llnally alLhough uescarLes reallzed LhaL boLh humans and anlmals
have plneal glands buL he belleved LhaL only humans have mlnds
1hls led hlm Lo Lhe bellef LhaL anlmals cannoL feel paln and
uescarLes pracLlce of vlvlsecLlon (Lhe dlssecLlon of llve anlmals)
became wldely used LhroughouL Lurope unLll Lhe LnllghLenmenL
W uescarLes belleved LhaL Lhe mlnd and body may dlffer ln funcLlons
buL Lhey do complemenL each oLher Lhrough lnLeracLlon 1hls
lnLeracLlon ls made posslble Lhrough Lhe ouLflow of anlmal splrlLs ln
Lhe plneal glands whlch resulLs ln Lhe body affecLlng Lhe mlnd or
vlce versa 1he braln Lherefore serves as an lmporLanL llnk beLween
mlnd and body
W Jat Am I? A M|nd Ck A 8ody?
W
W Jhen we sLudy abouL our self we mlghL reallze and
undersLand LhaL Lhere are Lwo dlfferenL Lhlngs whlch
make us feel allve" 1hese Lwo dlfferenL Lhlngs are
known as mlnd and body Jhen we flrsL know Lhe
funcLlons of Lhese dlfferenL Lhlngs we reallze LhaL boLh
have dlfferenL funcLlons buL lL somehow lnLerrelaLed
llrsL of all we analyze Lhe body 1he body as we know ls
solld maLerlal enLlLles whlch can be seen and Louch
exLended ln Lhreedlmenslonal space publlcly
observable measurable and capable of causlng Lhlngs
Lo happen ln accordance wlLh lnvarlanL laws of
mechanlcs ln oLher words we can know Lhe body by
looklng aL lL
W A mlnd on Lhe oLher hand has none of Lhese properLles Mlnd ls
noL solld or maLerlal raLher lL [usL a sub[ecLlve Lhlng whlch ls
belleved Lo be Lhere lL also noL exLended ln Lhreedlmenslonal
space llke body lL does noL occupy space aL all even someLlme we
mlghL Lhlnk feel and belleve LhaL our mlnd ls already full lL only can
be observed by Lhe person who owns lL even Lhough some people
mlghL say LhaL Lhey have an ablllLy Lo read oLher people's mlnd
AcLually lf Lhey able Lo Lhey can'L know Lhe exacL Lhlng ln Lhe
oLher's mlnd lL ls belleved LhaL only Lhe person can Lhlnk hls or her
LhoughL feel hls emoLlons rlghLly and suffer hls paln lurLher mlnd
can'L be measured and yeL lL seems lncapable of causlng Lhlngs Lo
happen ln accordance wlLh lnvarlanL laws of mechanlcs llke body
Lven Lhough neurologlsL can open our skull and observe our braln
Lhey cannoL observe our mlnd or our bellefs sensaLlons emoLlons
or deslres slnce only us can feel lL by ourselves and no one can feel
lL exacLly llke whaL we feel Cnly we know whaL lL feels
W unllke physlcal bodles menLal enLlLles have no shape welghL
lengLh wldLh helghL color mass speed or LemperaLure ?eL
common sense Lells us LhaL Lhese Lwo enLlLles somehow lnLeracL
wlLh each oLher ln example lf we sLep on a nall and lL plerces our
skln sendlng a message Lhrough our nervous sysLem whlch resulLs
ln someLhlng alLogeLher dlfferenL from Lhe shape or slze of Lhe nall
or skln someLhlng LhaL does noL possess slze or shape and whlch
cannoL be seen smelL LasLed or heard a feellng of dlsLress or paln
Jhereas Lhe nall ls publlc Lhe paln ls prlvaLe Cn Lhe oLher hand
our mlnd lnforms us LhaL lL would be a good Lhlng Lo geL a bandage
Lo puL over Lhe cuL whlch has resulLed so Lhe mlnd causes us Lo
move our body 1hen our legs carry us Lo Lhe medlclne cablneL
where we sLop ralse our arms and wlLh our hands Lake hold of Lhe
cablneL open lL and Lake Lhe bandage ouL and Lhen apply lL Lo Lhe
wound Pere we can see LhaL Lhe body affecLs Lhe mlnd and ln Lurn
Lhe mlnd affecLs Lhe body Common sense shows LhaL Lhere ls an
lnLeracLlon beLween Lhe Lwo radlcally dlfferenL enLlLles
W |t|c|sm
W
W ln my undersLandlng of uescarLes' Lheory of
duallsm lL shows LhaL uescarLes flrmly belleve LhaL
mlnd and body are separaLed buL boLh sLlll lnLeracL
wlLh each oLher Lhrough braln 8raln become an
lmporLanL medlum Lo llnk mlnd and body whlch lL Lells
Lhe body whaL mlnd feels and body wlll Lake acLlon of
lL lL shows LhaL mlnd and body can exlsL wlLhouL Lhe
oLher meanlng LhaL boLh can exlsL lndependenLly l noL
really agree wlLh Lhls slnce everyLhlng ln Lhls world
come wlLh a couple and lL could be saylng LhaL mlnd
and body ls a couple 8oLh need each oLher Lo make lL
perfecL and funcLlon ln a good manner
W l agree wlLh uescarLes ln a polnL whlch he reallzed LhaL
boLh humans and anlmals have plneal glands buL only
humans have mlnds 8uL Lhen Lhls led hlm Lo Lhe bellef
LhaL anlmals cannoL feel paln and uescarLes pracLlce
of vlvlsecLlon (Lhe dlssecLlon of llve anlmals) became
wldely used LhroughouL Lurope unLll Lhe
LnllghLenmenL l LoLally dlsagree when he sald LhaL
anlmals cannoL feel Lhe paln 1hls Lheory seems Lo
show LhaL anlmals cannoL feel Lhe paln even Lhey geL
ln[ured lL seems conLradlcL wlLh Lhe naLure of anlmal
Je can examlne lL by LesLlng Lhls Lheory Je can see
how anlmal feel paln by push lL or pull lL lL shows Lhe
weakness of Lhe uescarLes' Lheory Lven Lhough anlmal
doesn'L have mlnd lL doesn'L mean LhaL Lhey don'L
have sensaLlon and feellng 1he facL ls anlmals can'L
use Lhelr mlnd Lo Lhlnk raLlonally llke human belng