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                                        Dualism

   Descartes was the first philosopher to address the problem of mind from within
   the new [2]mechanistic worldview, which would later be developed by Newton as the
   foundation of classical science. This mechanistic view poses an intrinsic problem
   since it does not seem to leave any space for mental phenomena. Descartes solved
   this problem by proposing two independent realms: mind and matter. While matter
   follows the laws of mechanics, mind has a logic of its own that cannot be reduced
   to mechanical principles. This philosophy is known as dualism. It is mostly
   outdated, although some philosophers and even brain scientists still hold on to
   it.

   The assumptions of dualism are simple. Outside, we are surrounded by material
   reality. This consists of hard, indivisible particles or pieces of matter, which
   obey the deterministic, mechanical laws of nature. Such [3]determinism leaves no
   place for free will, intention or agency: since all material events are already
   fully determined by the laws of nature, there is no freedom to intervene or
   change the course of events. The atomic structure of matter leaves no place for
   thoughts, feelings, consciousness, purpose, or other mental phenomena. Therefore,
   we need to assume that there exists another reality inside: the mind, which
   reflects about external reality as perceived through the senses. Descartes
   conceived this mind as an immaterial soul, having a free will. To explain how
   this mind could still affect the body, which obviously is made out of matter, he
   assumed that the mind communicates with the body through the pineal gland, a
   small organ in the brain stem.

   While simple and intuitive, dualism creates a number of fundamental problems.
   First, adding the independent category of mind to the one of matter obviously
   makes things more complicated. More fundamentally, as pointed out by the 20th
   century philosopher Gilbert Ryle, Descartes' mind functions like a Òghost in the
   machineÓ (similar to the Deus ex Machina that suddenly drops from the sky to
   solve all problems when the plot in a novel or play has become too complicated).
   The body behaves like a mechanical, deterministic machine. Yet, it is inhabited
   by some spooky ÒghostÓ that pulls the strings, and that performs all the tricks
   that are too complicated for us to understand mechanically. Indeed, we have no
   scientific theory of mind as a separate category, unlike our very reliable and
   precise theories of matter.

   Finally, if mind can affect matter beyond what matter would already do on its
   own, then it must contravene the deterministic laws of mechanics, implying that
   these otherwise very reliable laws cannot be trusted. In spite of these
   shortcomings, Descartes' dualist philosophy remains simple and intuitively
   attractive. It is still (implicitly) used nowadays by scientists and lay-people,
   albeit most often in a ÒmaterialistÓ version where the mind is replaced by a
   hypothetical [4]homunculus

   .
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   [5]Copyright© 2007 Principia Cybernetica - [6]Referencing this page

   Author

   Date
   Jul 6, 2007

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References

   1. LYNXIMGMAP:http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DUALISM.html#PCP-header
   2. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/NEWTONWV.html
   3. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/FREEDOM.html
   4. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/.html
   5. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/COPYR.html
   6. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/REFERPCP.html
   7. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DEFAULT.html
   8. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/INTRO.html
   9. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/PHILOSI.html
  10. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/EPISTEMI.html
  11. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/EPISTEMI.html
  12. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HOMUNCUL.html
  13. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MAKANNOT.html
  14. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/hypercard.acgi$annotform?

[USEMAP]
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   3. http://pcp.lanl.gov/DUALISM.html
   4. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DUALISM.html
   5. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SERVER.html
   6. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/hypercard.acgi$randomlink?searchstring=.html
   7. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/RECENT.html
   8. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/TOC.html#DUALISM
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