Body/Soul Relationship

• What is Descartes’ Interactionism?


  Descartes’ view that the mind and body interact with the Pineal Gland
• What are the challenges of interactionism? 


  It merely says ‘it interacts here’ but does nothing to show how the interaction takes place. If the self is supposedly separate, it is difficult to see how we could ever establish the way in which it engages with the physical world. Moreover, modern science has shown that the pineal gland is associated with the production of melatonin.
• What is physicalism? 


  There is no body/soul relationship. Everything can be explained and described in terms of matter. It explains how people become forgetful at an old age, different experiences of reality because of alcohol or drugs and acting differently based on if you’re ill or excited. This suggests that science can provide all the answers to questions about life
• What is functionalism? 


  An example of a physicalist theory of mind. Developed out of cognitive science, where the mind is seen as an information processing system. To talk about a thing’s function is to describe the job it does. The function of the mind is to process data inputted through the senses and generate an appropriate outcome. IN SUMMARY:

  Mental states consist of sensory inputs and behavioural outputs
• How does functionalism challenge cartesian dualism? 


  1. If mental substance is completely different from physical substance then there seems to be no way that they can interact
  2. Other substances, such as drugs, can affect the way that the mind thinks
• How does Cartesian dualism defend itself against functionalism?


  1. Dualism is still the most popular religious approach to the mind: many Christians believe that humans have souls. Christians believe that God thinks, but has no body; so it is logical for them to hold that the soul or thinking self can be independent of physical matter
  2. There is some evidence for dualism in accounts of near death experiences