Preview

What are the strengths and weaknesses of dualism and monism?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1561 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What are the strengths and weaknesses of dualism and monism?
Dualism and monism is a famous philosophy topic from ancient to now. The word "Dualism" means that our physical and our mental are independent. And our body and our mind cannot be the same. It is because of mind and body is two separate substances. In the contract, the "monism" means that both of the physical and mental are combined being one. And our mind and body are indivisible and are each influenced by the other. The monism and dualism individually has its strengths and weaknesses.

The mind and body problem can be divided into many different questions. We can consider or ask by ourselves that what is the mind? What is the body? And do both of them are co-existing, or does the mind only exist in the body? Or does the body only exist in the mind? Otherwise, we also will consider that if both the mind and body exist, and then there could be a number of types of relationships. Maybe the mind will affect our body. Or maybe the body will affect our mind, or maybe the mind and body will both affect each other.

The dualism and monism has so many strengths and weaknesses points to argue by many famous philosophers and scientists. It is because of the mind and body problem still is hard to explain it. The reason is because of different people have different views to see these two theories. For example, the Christian philosophers will agree the dualism, because they believe that our body is "wrapping", and it will be "retired". But our soul will exist after we died. In the other hand, most scientists will believe monism by science's way. It is because they believe that mind and body can't be divided into two separate substances. Because of both of those two substances will affect each other. Also, most of them will not believe that soul will exist after we died.

The relation between body and mind is the source of disputation of dualism and monism among philosophers. The supporters of dualism believe that the body and mind are separate and opposite. Also, the body is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    For example, the mind provides functions such as thinking, doubting, hating, or desiring. In contrast, the body or brain are mere physical extensions, and simply represent how a person is shaped or the color of their skin. The body and brain do not provide contributions to the mental functioning of a being, and simply provide a physical platform under which the mental, and its own capacities of thought and contemplation, may be housed. As an extension, all things in the universe may be qualified as a body, a physical entity, or a mind, a thinking entity. Additionally, a mind does not need a body to provide it shelter, and regardless of ever having a body, a mind will exist for eternity because it lacks the characteristics of a physical entity, which cause it to degenerate. In conclusion, Substance Dualists perceive the mind and body as separate and distinct substances due to their unique abilities and…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dualistic Interactionism are one of the many theories that argues that two elements, which is the body and mind are separate yet have some sort of connection or interaction with each other. From what I believe, I do understand and accept the fact that we do have a physical body and that we do have a mind that is not physical, but I have a hard time justifying the concept that the mind and body are two different entities and then the body and mind can really interact with each other. I think the reason being for that is because there are so many crazy theories that are against this one and vice versa. But after reading about some of the concepts regarding dualism in Chapter 5, I can somewhat support some of the points that this theory does…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap Psychology Quiz

    • 2654 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In thinking about psychology and consciousness, the idea that the mind and the body are separate entities that interact makes a lot of sense to you. This view that you hold is most like the view of:…

    • 2654 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Searle Dualism

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages

    John Searle and Rene Descartes both had opinions on dualism. John believe different aspects like mental and physical both are one substance. Rene, on the other hand, believes two different substances like mental and physical are different things. Rene even talked about how thoughts and feelings that are nonmaterial exists in material place.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Descartes Dualism

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The mind and body is not a problem; since the body and mind are not equal, and do not work together, you can become imbalanced. This is the cause of people to act mentally strange.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of, what is the ‘Mind/Body problem’?The mind/body problem, in one of its aspects, concerns the relation between the two. Some people have thought that the mind and body are one and the same, the mind being just one aspect of the body and located in or identical to the brain. On the other hand, some consider that they must be separate, either wholly or significantly, with the mind not being equivalent to the brain.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Philosophers have undertaken several studies to analyse the nature human beings and this has given rise to the formulation of many speculations and theories about the nature of the mind, body and the relationship in between, if any. This is referred to the mind-body problem (P. Lloyd, 1953). Focus is therefore made on the identity theory of mind and brain basically identifying the mind with the brain ascribing the different functions of the mind to that of the neural brain processes.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dualism consists of substances, which include corporeal things and thinking things. The essence of the mind is thought be the essence of the body but its extension. Human bodies and their properties are objects of sense perception. Minds and…

    • 2076 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cartesian Dualism

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The mind, or ‘soul’ as it has come to be known to some, is classified as a ‘non-physical entity’ that is separate from the brain by Cartesian Dualists and linked to (but still different from) the brain by Property Dualists. These are perfectly reasonable ways to look at it as such concepts as qualia and privileged access and the fact that mental phenomena lack spatial features support these theories. While Materialists may doggedly reject Dualism, it can be noted that some of their arguments are by no means iron-clad, including their trump card, the ‘interaction problem’. Also, Materialistic arguments fail to address and explain our mental experiences taking…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I will be arguing for Cartesian dualism in this paper. I will argue that Cartesian dualism offers a more reasonable explanation of reality than Darwinian monism. I believe that the mind and the body are two separate things. Life did not just happen by chance. Someone or someone’s mind, created this universe. For anything to take place someone has to have made the first move. “Now whatever is in motion is put in motion by another, for nothing can be in motion except it is in potentially to that towards which it is in motion.” (153) I agree with this because everything has to start somewhere from something. We are our minds, our bodies are just a place where our minds and souls takes place as long as the body function. I am not certain about what happens to our soul when we die however I know it is still somewhere in the universe thinking, feeling or affecting. The mind and body connection is like Rene Descartes explains that if you can think, like you are thinking when you are reading this, you exist. Moreover now when I think…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A prime example of a dualist would be Plato; he believed that the body was gross and unthinking object that has cravings and desires and it connected to sensory illusions. But he believed that the soul was in fact a thoughtful and eternal and craves intellectual stimulation and philosophy and originated from the world of the forms. Plato thought that in time the soul would go back to its origin of the world of forms. He showed his view through an analogy of a charioteer; the charioteer is the soul controlling two horses which are the body and the mind. The horses have separate desires; the body desires sex, food, water and physical gratification but the mind wants philosophy, ideas, concepts and intellectual stimulation; the soul is the controlling force that ensures the chariot meets its destination. The major criticism with Plato’s theory is the idea that the soul is immortal and came from the world of forms; how is it possible that something can remember the life in the world of forms if it doesn’t have any senses in order for it to have remembered. Gilbert Ryle would criticise this view and agree with the statement as he believed a soul was much like ‘a ghost in a machine’ and this was a ‘categorical mistake’ and a mistake in language.…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Argument of Dualism

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Dualism is the theory that mind and matter are two distinct things. The main argument for dualism is that facts about the objective external world of particles and fields of force, as revealed by modern physical science, are not facts about how things appear from any particular point of view, whereas facts about subjective experience are precisely about how things are from the point of view of individual conscious subjects. They have to be described in the first person as well as in the third person.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dualism

    • 1476 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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.…

    • 1476 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dualism In Ancient Egypt

    • 1775 Words
    • 8 Pages

    “Dualism is the concept that our mind is more than just our brain. This concept entails that our mind has a non-material, spiritual dimension that includes consciousness and possibly an eternal attribute.” (Allabout philosophy.org) Plato was a dualist. He believed and offered that the first, oldest argument was that one’s physical body and soul are separate entities or substances that interact and that one lives on after the other has died. The idea that the mind is a separate entity and that it is completely independent of any physical body is the central point of dualism. Dualism states that the real essence or soul of a person has nothing to do with the physical aspects of the body, but rather from the nonphysical entity of the mind. Dualism…

    • 1775 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    of dualism, which asserted that the mind and body were two separate entities that interact…

    • 3589 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays