Philosophy of the mind (Term Paper Sample)

Name
Name of the lecturer
Name of the course
Date
Philosophy
OUTLINE
Introduction
a. Gives an overall view of the definition and concepts of the mind.
introduces aspects of philosophy such as dualism and determinism
Philosophy of the mind
Defines the mind and basic functions it performs.
Explains the relationship between the mind and religion.
Dualism
Defines dualism and explains different types of dualism.
Proposes arguments for and against dualism by several theorists and philosophers.
Materialism
Explains the meaning of materialism and its relationship with the mind.
Explains arguments for and against materialism.
Connectionism
Defines connectionism
Provides arguments for and against connectionism.
Representalism
Defines representalism
Theories are introduced for and against representalism.
Determinism, indeterminism and fatalism
Defines determinism indeterminism and fatalism.
The three concepts are explained and how they inter-relate with one other.
Argument
Focuses on the dualistic scenario and the possibility of the mind being at two places at the same time.
Conclusion
Gives a general overview of the essay findings.
Introduction
Philosophy has sought to develop an understanding of the mind, how it operates and what properties make it distinct. The mind can be defined as an intricate of cognitive processes that may facilitate reasoning, learning, perception, thinking and consciousness in human beings (Uttal 2004).Many different religions and cultures understand the concept of the mind in their own ways. Some have ascribed some mind properties to non living beings such as animism, to the deities and to animals as well. Conversely, others see the mind exclusively as a human being property. Over time, it has been argued that the mind is constituted by intellectual functions that are considered to be of a ‘superior’ level than others such as memory and reason (Repetti 2012). Emotions have been deemed inferior and as such primeval to the mind. Joy, love, hate, and fear as some of the attributes viewed by some psychologists as different from the mind. On the other hand, others have argued that rational thinking and emotional states cannot be differentiated from the mind and are indeed part of it. However, the key attribute that our mind posses is the ability to privacy where only the owner has access to. Other people do not have access to our mind. The best they can do is construe what we commune either unconsciously or consciously (Heil, 2004).
In this essay, we will analyze how the mind works and various aspects of philosophy such as dualism and representationalism and how they compare and contrast against each other as argued by the likes of Plato and Aristotle. Moreover, we also analyze what different theories have been developed to explain the functionality of the mind, and its relationship with the body and soul.
Philosophy of the mind
The mind is capable of performing many functions based on its mental faculties. Imagination, memory, thought, and consciousness are process that the mind does. Imagination is one of the mental processes that the mind does whereby, images, activities and story like situations are generated. It mainly exhibits subjective rather than direct experience. Imagined things are believed to be in the ‘mind’s eye’. Through imagination, it is possible to predict possible future events or view back in history. Imagination provides a platform whereby one is able to view things from different perspectives and make decisions on the same (Heil, 2004).
Another process of the mind is thought. It allows human beings to be able to distinguish things and interpret them accordingly to their needs and wants. Through the act of thinking, we are able to engage ourselves in reasoning, problem solving and decision making. This may be attributed to the fact that thinking involves a symbolic merging of ideas. It basically helps us to act in response in a way that makes sense to the world (Repetti 2012). Through thinking, we are able to distinguish patterns that have significance and at the same time comprehend the cause and effect principle.
Memory is a process of the mind that has the ability to retain, preserve and recall an experience information or knowledge when required to do so. Another process is consciousness. This is how a human being is able to perceive him or herself in a particular environmental setting. It may be classified as either access or phenomenal consciousness. Access consciousness refers to universal accessibility of information to the brain’s processing systems. On the other hand, phenomenal consciousness may be termed as a subjective experience whereby one is able to relate to an experience (Repetti 2012).
Religion and the mind are intertwined together. According to Judaism, the heart is ruled by the mind. This means that man may be able to draw near the Deity intellectually by behaving in accordance to his will and through learning of the Torah. The mind and the soul are distinct according to Christianity. In Hinduism, several schools of thought have argued out whether the divine reality and the human soul are identical or distinct. Confucianism on its part perceives the mind and the body as naturally perfectible. Buddhism on its part describes the mind as an ‘illusion-like’. This is because the mind exists in a way that is extraordinary to our normal ways of perceiving how things exist. The mind, is not an illusion but may exhibits some qualities same as illusion. More so, Buddhism points out that man consists of the mind and the body only. It argues that nothing else exists apart from these two distinct entities.
Dualism
Dualism, according to the philosophy of the mind perceives the mind and the body as not identical to each other. Descartes famously defended it based on two fundamental substances; matter and mind. According to this school of thought known as Cartesian dualism, matter does not have the ability to think and the mind does not have an extension in space. Substance dualism refers to the most basic form dualism, gave rise to the mind-body problem. According to this, the body and the mind should constitute of two ontologically different substances (Uttal 2004).
Dualists believe that the body constitutes of physical part known as matter. On the other hand, the mind is made up of non-physical substance. Most substance dualists believe that the mind and the body may be able to affect each other casually in a process known as interactionism. Most theological aspects concur with this type of dualism proposing that souls occupy a ‘sphere’ that is that is unique from the physical world (Uttal 2004).
Property dualism suggests that the mental phenomena (mind) are non-physical characteristics of the physical matter. Epiphenomenalism further explains that physical processes and events may generate mental events or process. However, mental events and processes do not cause physical process or events to happen. Another form of property dualism is non-reductive physicalism. This argues that all mental states may be reduced casually to physical states. Supporters of this form of dualism argue out that mental and physical events are identical.
Predicate dualism is a form of dualism that suggests that physical and mental predicates come into existence as a function of language and not as ontological categories. For example, if we say that “Sanchez is boring”, the predicate “boring” cannot be reduced to a physical one. This differs sharply with the other two forms of dualism (Heil, 2004).
Plato was a major proponent of dualism. In his arguments, he argued that the soul may exist without its body. Plato symbolizes the body like a prison, whereby one’s soul is held at ransom. In his argument of the opposites, Plato states that things have an opposite process can go in either direction. He argued that if something can become taller from being shorter. At the same time, things that are taller can also become shorter. Similarly, Plato argued that death comes from life. As a result, death is a liberator of the soul from the human body (Uttal 2004).
However, critics argued out that the arguments have failed to give clear cut evidence on the soul’s immortality and its ability to separate from the human body. The opposite’s argument cannot hold water as matter has no opposites according to Aristotle. He stated that despite one becomes older from being younger; the reverse is not possible as the process is unidirectional.
Materialism
Materialism, unlike dualism states that only matter or energy exists and anything else is a by-product of material interactions. More accurately, materialists believe that the conscious mental activity (mind) is similar to the neural activity (the brain) (Repetti 2012). They believe that with the brain being physical in nature, it is the best physical candidate that can identify with the mind.
The ‘knowledge’ argument proposed by critics of materialism concur that it is indeed possible to all the physical information required about a bat. We may be able to view all its physicality. However, what we may not know what it feels like to be one. In another illustration, James, is raised in a black and white room all his life. However, he has learnt about color blue and all physical facts about it. When he is released to another environment where blue is dominant, he is finally able to experience blue. This is a non-physical experience and thus, we can concur that not all the knowledge acquired by the mind is physical (Repetti 2012).
Connectionism
Connectionism can be defined as a movement in the field of cognitive science. It aims at giving explanatory evidence on human intellectu...