Dualism
Question: In dualism about the mind and body a more plausible view than the view that we are purely physical beings? Give reason for your answer.
Dualism is the view that you consist of a body plus a soul, physicalism is the view that your mental life consists of physical processes in your brain. I hold the position that Physicalism is more plausible than dualism, my argument will be to look at Nagel's opinions of both the philosophies and then draw my own conclusion about which is more plausible and finally consider the possibility about whether or not there is an option that a combination of the two could stand with a valid argument. In considering the view that dualism is a more plausible view than the view that we are purely physical beings, it helps to take regard the writings of various philosophers. Reading the work of other philosophers and using it to come to a conclusion is important when comparing two types of philosophy and which is more plausible. This is because they have spent their lives studying the subject which means that the premises used are more likely to be sound. Thomas Nagel starts by explaining what can be scientifically proved about knowledge between consciousness and the brain. Everybody knows to what happens in consciousness depends on what happens to the body. If you stub your toe it hurts. If you close your eyes you can't see what's in front of you. If you bite into a Hershey bar you taste chocolate.' This putting forward the basic view that most people hold true as a belief. It is the start of an argument which philosophers would use to support the idea of physicalism. It puts forward examples which suggest for anything to happen in your mind or consciousness something has to happen in your brain. This idea physicalism is the view that mind and body are connected via the brain. However Nagel then goes on to state, we don't know what happens in the brain when you think' , this statement is vague but important, it
Dualism is the view that you consist of a body plus a soul, physicalism is the view that your mental life consists of physical processes in your brain. I hold the position that Physicalism is more plausible than dualism, my argument will be to look at Nagel's opinions of both the philosophies and then draw my own conclusion about which is more plausible and finally consider the possibility about whether or not there is an option that a combination of the two could stand with a valid argument. In considering the view that dualism is a more plausible view than the view that we are purely physical beings, it helps to take regard the writings of various philosophers. Reading the work of other philosophers and using it to come to a conclusion is important when comparing two types of philosophy and which is more plausible. This is because they have spent their lives studying the subject which means that the premises used are more likely to be sound. Thomas Nagel starts by explaining what can be scientifically proved about knowledge between consciousness and the brain. Everybody knows to what happens in consciousness depends on what happens to the body. If you stub your toe it hurts. If you close your eyes you can't see what's in front of you. If you bite into a Hershey bar you taste chocolate.' This putting forward the basic view that most people hold true as a belief. It is the start of an argument which philosophers would use to support the idea of physicalism. It puts forward examples which suggest for anything to happen in your mind or consciousness something has to happen in your brain. This idea physicalism is the view that mind and body are connected via the brain. However Nagel then goes on to state, we don't know what happens in the brain when you think' , this statement is vague but important, it
Bibliography: Nagel, T 1987 ‘what does it all mean? ' Oxford University Press,