notes on dualism

8/12/2019 Notes on Dualism

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Outline of Paul Churchlands Critique of Dualism

Introduction

o What is the essential nature of consciousness for dualists? Can science study this?

o All dualist theories say the essential nature of conscious intelligence is something NON-

PHYSICAL which is beyond the scope of science. This theory is deeply entrenched in theworlds popular religions

Substance Dualism

o What is the claim of substance dualism? Are these positive or negative

characterizations? Each is a distinct nonphysical thing, an individual package of

nonphysical substance, a thing whose identity is independent of any physical body to

which it may be temporarily attached.Mental states and activities derive their special

character, on this view, from their being states and activities of this unique, nonphysical

substance. What we want are POSITIVE characteristics of this mind-stufffor this we

must return to Descartes.

o

What were Descartes two substances? Which one is really you?o Descartes two substances are (a) matter which is extended and (b) mind/consciousness

which is thought. For Descartes, the real you is your thinking, your non-physical mind-

stuff which is not part of your body.

o What was Descartes argument for this position?

o

The main reason to believe in this view are (a) direct introspection and (b) language and

reasoning is not part of a physical system

o Problems with the argument? Is it still plausible?

o One main problem is how matter-stuff and mind-stuff are related. There are many

problems with this view and it is no longer held. Matter is not just extended stuff since

electrons and smaller dont seem to have extension and all matter can turn to this state

if brought into a black hole.

o What is popular dualism? Does it guarantee life after death?

o

Popular dualism is the idea of a ghost in the machine or the idea that our body has a

ghost-like soul to it. In this view the mind is inside the body and controls the body.

People usually want to hold this view since they want to keep hold of the idea that the

mind might exist the dissolution of the body. Either way, this is not a good reason to

believe dualism true, we cannot go from wishes to reality.

Property Dualism

o What is property dualism? Is this the same thing as epiphenomenalism?

o

Property dualism says there is no substance of mind which is beyond the brain, but

the brain has properties which no other physical objects possesses like having a pain,

sensing red, thinking something, desiring, etc. (the properties of a conscious

intelligence). These are thought of as non-physical since they are not reducible to the

physical and need a new science of the mental

o

The oldest version of property dualism is epiphenomenalism which says that brains

determine our behavior, but the mental rides upon these like foam on a wave. These


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mental phenomena cannot effect the physical world. This would mean that our actions

are not caused by our desires, decisions, etc.

o Why believe in epiphenomenalism?

o Neuroscientists who trace behavior back to its physical manifestation in the brain and

think that the brain has a behavior-controlling feature which it does before we know

what is going on. The problem is the scientist also has introspection and experiences the

reality of the mental, but to accept the science they have to degrade the mentalthat

is, to become epiphenomenalists.

o What is interactionist property dualism?

o Most property dualists dont like reducing the mental to nothing like the

epiphenomenoalists do, so they came up with an interactionist property dualism where

the mental interacts with the brain and vice versa. Mental properties in this scheme are

called emergent properties

o

What are emergent properties? What does it meant to say that mental states and

properties are irreducible?

o

Emergent properties are ones which cannot be predicted, but which arise when the

physical arranges itself in a certain form. A property like this would be the property of

being alive. If the mental is like this, then they also say we cannot reduce the mental

to the mere physical parts. The property dualist could say these properties are

fundamental and have been here from the beginning of the universe

o What is elemental property dualism?

o

This last position, where the mental has a status in the world, but is not emergent is the

idea of elemental property dualism. The problem is that the mental are only displayed in

complex levels of reality and dont appear to be basic.

Arguments for Dualism

o

What are the main sources of dualistic belief?

Argument from Religion

Each major religion is about the cause and purpose of the universe and mans

place in it and so are connected to an immortal soul idea.

Argument from introspection

When we look into our mind, we dont see a neural network of electrochemical

activity, but thoughts, sensations, desires, and emotions. This makes it seem

that mental states cannot reveal our physical mind which places us in some

form of dualism.

Argument from irreducibility

There are many mental phenomena which seem to have no physical

explanation, like our use of language and our mathematical reasoning. Also

there is the problem of qualia and the meaning of our thoughts and beliefs

Parapsychological phenomenon

Telepathy (mind reading), precognition (seeing the future), telekinesis (thought

control of material objects), and clairvoyance (knowledge of distant objects)


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dont seem explainable by physics and psychology. If these are real, dualism is

our best answer.

o What are the main criticisms of these positions?

Religionthere is no god scientific arguments for religion and the relation btw

the two in the past is bad. Stars are not angels but other suns (Giordan Bruno

burned at stake for this), the earth is not the center of the universe (Galileo

tortured for this), diseases are caused by microorganism, the earth is not 6000

years old, life is physico-chemical, etc. All this aside, peoples religious belief is

not the outcome of a dispassionate review of all the major options, but cluster

in different social worlds. Social forces are the primary determinates of religious

belief.

IntrospectionThis argument assumes that our experience reveals things in

their deepest nature, but since we know that sight, hearing, and touch dont do

this, we can think introspection doesnt also. Apples dont look like molecules,

but they are. This only way this would work is if we argue that introspection is

different from all other forms of observation.

IrreducibilityWe can make calculators which can reason mathematically far

more than any human. We now have computer languages which are our own

artificially created languages. The author then says that we will one day find out

how our meanings are connected to the material realm

Parapsychological phenomenonEven if these are real, it does not seem that

they escape physical phenomenon. Whenever we find something strange, we

dont just say, strange things happen.

Arguments Against Dualism

o What are the main arguments against dualism?

SimplicityThe materialist view is more simple, has a clear method to analyzing

the material realm, and if we have two positions we should always pick the

more simple explanation (Ockhams Razor).

Explanatory impotence of dualism and resources of materialismmaterialists

have neuroscience, the microstructure of the brain, and how the nerves and

muscles work, and the material basis for our sense organs. They know the

micro-chemistry and can use brain injuries to show how the material and

mental are related. What can the dualist tell us of the spiritual substance of the

mind?

Dualists reply the brain as mediatorDescartes says that the brain mediates

btw the mind and body and so the brain sciences only tell us of the mediation

of the brain, not the non-physical mind (reason, emotion, and consciousness)

Reason, emotion, and consciousness are vulnerable to manipulation and

damage of the brain (i.e., the neural dependence of all mental phenomenon)

If there really is a distinct entity in which reasoning, emotion, and consciousness

take place, and if that entity is dependent on the brain for nothing more than

sensory experiences as input and volitional executions as output, then one


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would expect reason, emotion, and consciousness to be relatively invulnerable

to direct control or pathology by manipulation or damage to be brain. But in fact

the exact opposite is true. Alcohol, narcotics, or senile degeneration of nerve

tissue will impair, cripple, or even destroy ones capacity for rational thought.

Psychiatry knows of hundreds of emotion-controlling chemicals

The origin and development of living beings

The fossil record, comparative anatomy, biochemistry, and DNA show that all

life is from adaptatinos from earlier forms of life. 3 billion years ago, there was

just a handful of simple organisms and through (a) blind variation and (b)

survival of the fittest, individuals changed to adapt to their environment. This

means that the human and everything about it is the outcome of a purely

physical process.

Summary Paragraph #1:

(1) What is the author arguing for in this piece as a whole?

(2) Based on what evidence or reason?


(1) Does the authors argument change how I look at and live in the world? Is it the same or

different?

(2) Why or why not?

Outline of John Fosters A Defense of Dualism

Introduction

o

What is Fosters definition of dualism?

o

What objection to dualism does Foster respond to? What assumptions does he workwith?

Traditional Objection

o

What is the traditional objection to dualism? Where does this objection go wrong?

An objection to Dualistic Interactionism

o What is epiphenomenalism?

o Why is this implausible?


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o What about the scientific argument for epiphenominalism? (argument 1-6 on page 217)

o Where does this argument go wrong?


(1) What is the author arguing for in this piece as a whole?

(2) Based on what evidence or reason?


(1) Does the authors argument change how I look at and live in the world? Is it the same or

different?

(2) Why or why not?

notes on dualism

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