Eliminative Materialism and Dualism

Eliminative Materialism is a theory that deems that the common sense understanding of the mind is wrong. It also poses that one day neurosciences will reveal that mental states do not refer to anything real. In fact, the concept of mental states will eventually be eliminated by neuroscience. In the past, mental states were explained by what is called folk psychology. Churchland argues that folk psychology will gradually be replaced as neuroscience grows more advanced and explains more. The problems that eliminative materialist see with folk psychology is that it often excludes or is mistaken about mental phenomenon that can now, currently, be explained by neuroscience. Neuroscience has been able to explain phenomenon such as dreaming, consciousness, and memory. Due to the fact that there have been no further developments in folk psychology, it is considered a stagnant theory. Folk psychology is widely discredited mainly because it is outdated and such things as neuroscience were developed. In essence, eliminative materialism calls for elimination of the mind all together. One of the points it argues is the widespread failures of the mind. It states that despite centuries of studies, there are still many concepts that modern psychology can’t explain or understand. Also there have been similar examples from history of folk psychology and other disproven theories. One example is ancient people’s theory of the movement of stars, which was later disproven. Another argument of Churchland’s is that folk psychology is unlikely to have a neat reduction, and will most likely not have a neat development. This is where Churchland disagrees with Carruthers. On the opposite end from eliminative materialism is Dualism. More specifically, interactive substance dualism, which was supported by such philosophers as Descartes and Goertler. This theory was famously by Descartes. It states that there are two fundamental types of substance; mental and material. According to Descartes, the mental substance has no extension, and the material substance does not think. This theory is famous for adding fuel to the fire of the mind-body argument. According to this theory, the mind is non-physical, and non spatial. In turn, the body is physical and spatial; therefore they exist in two different realms. Descartes basically claims that minds are separate entities from bodies. This means that each of us has an immaterial mind that exists in a non-physical realm. Substance Dualism poses that the mind and body have causal interaction. For example, physically stubbing your toe creates mental pain in the mind. Churchland would disagree with Descartes’ view of dualism. One of the major problems that Dualism faces is the mind-body problem. The main problem posed is that, if the mind and body are two separate entities, then how do they interact? It is possible for beliefs and desires to cause the body to act. And in turn, it is possible that physical actions that happen to the body can make one think or feel certain ways. The biggest problem that Dualism encounters is how to explain how the physical affects the non-physical especially when they exist in two different realms. Dualists therefore must explain how consciousness affects physical reality. Another problem that is posed is where the interaction takes place. If the mind is not physical then how does it interact with a physical body? One argument posed by Churchland, is the argument of brain damage. If the brain were to be damaged in some way, then the mind is obviously affected. According to dualists, the mind is separate from the body and should therefore not be affected. But dualists run into the problem of the fact that non-physical minds are indeed affected and altered by damaging the physical brain.
Churchland’s theories are challenged by dualists as well. There are three main objections to Churchland’s theory. The first one is the common sensical objection. This states that Churchland’s theory of eliminative materialism is not consistent with common knowledge. Another main objection is incoherence. Those opposed to his theory claim that it is incoherent for him to claim that one does not have thoughts, ideas, or theories when he is presenting a theory coming from his own mind. The last objection made to his theory, is the mountain from a molehill objection. It basically states that Churchland is making too big of a deal of things. It also states that the gaps in our current scientific knowledge are not grand enough to call for the entire elimination of the mind. Many have also argued that eliminative materialism disproves itself. This theory calls for the elimination of the mind, yet many find it perfectly clear and obvious that minds do exist.
The question of whether or not dualist can answer the objections of eliminative materialism is often posed. One of the biggest objections to dualism is the mind-body problem. Dualists are often challenged by philosophers like Churchland because of their claim that the mind is separate from the body. They answer this through the theory of interactionism. Interactionism is a sort of common sense solution to the mind-body problem. This theory poses that the interaction between mind and body goes both ways and that the mind and body interact both ways. This means that the physical acts of the body can affect what the mind thinks, and the way the mind thinks could affect the actions of the body. Interactionism states that mental states, such as a belief or a desire, can in fact interact with physical states. It appeals as such a common sense solution because it is seen in everyday life, such as when a person physically burns themselves and yet they experience a mental pain. Descartes’ original answer to the question of how a non-physical mind could affect a physical body was the pineal gland, but that was later disproven. Descartes simply relied on faith and called it God’s design. This of course was proven wrong by modern science which said that the pineal gland was absolutely unnecessary to the function of the human body. Dualism’s main answer to the objections of eliminative materialism is the theory of interactionism. They basically answer by saying that even though the mind and body are two separate entities; they still causally interact in both directions.