1.2 Soul, Mind and Body

• What is Materialism ?

  The view that only physical matter exists; so the mind works as physical brain activity
• What is Dualism ?

  The view that reality can be split into 2 separate parts; physical and non-physical
• What was Plato's understanding on the Soul and Body ?

  Plato saw the body and soul as 2 separate entities. The soul is temporarily united with the body but can leave it after death to return to the World of Forms
• How else did Plato understand the Soul and Body ?

  Plato thought that the bodily demands can impede the soul's progress. The body holds physical and temporary aspects whereas the soul holds immortal and immaterial aspects
• What was Plato's Tripartite view ?

  The view that the soul consists of 3 parts: Reason (the chariot) guides appetite and emotion (the horses)
• What did Plato's Meno story suggest ?

  Due to Meno, who is uneducated, being able to solve logical problems, the soul must have encountered ideas before birth in the World of Forms
• What did Aristotle think about the soul ?

  Aristotle though the soul was a substance (real thing). It stays the same whilst the body changes and gives a living thing its essence
• How did Aristotle's view on the soul contradict Plato's

  Aristotle unlike Plato believed the soul to be inseparable from the body. It gives the body its form, efficiency and Telos, hence the body dying causes the soul to also die
• What analogy did Aristotle uses ?

  The stamp in wax analogy
• What did Descartes believe about the mind and soul ?

  Descartes thought the mind and soul were the same thing. He was a substance dualist as he still believed the mind and body to be separate
• What does Descartes' Substance Dualism say ?

  The mind and body exist as 2 separate realities. The mind has properties like emotions, feelings and thought whereas the body has properties like being tall which are also extensions as they take up space. Substance Dualism still allows for life after death
• What was Descartes' Indivisibility argument ?

  The body is divisible since its extended whereas the mind is indivisible since its not extended. Leibniz's law suggests that if the mind and body were identical, then its subject would be indivisible and divisible which is impossible. Hence, the mind and body aren't identical
• What did Gilbert Ryle reject ?

  Ryle rejected Dualism, calling it a category error
• Why did Ryle call Dualism a category error ?

  Descartes concluded that the mind being indivisible meant it was a 'non-physical thing' assuming however that it was a thing. Ryle thought it wasn't a thing as it is meaningless (Talking about it as if it were a thing is like suggesting a ghost in the machine)
• How did Dawkins view the soul ?

  Dawkins is a scientist who claims there is no evidence for the soul. There is nothing to humans other than physical matter. We are just DNA, bones and flesh
• What was Dawkins' view on consciousness ?

  Dawkins believed only physical matter exists. Consciousness can't be separated from the brain so when the brain dies, the conscience also dies
• What did Dawkins' Survival Machine analogy suggest ?

  Human and machines are vehicles of their own genes
• Plato was a dualist, Aristotle was a materialist, Descartes was a substance dualist and Gilbert Ryle and Dawkins were both materialists
• What were the critiques of Dualism ?

  • Bodily damage can result in mental consequences suggesting the mind and body are linked. Mental choices may also bring physical responses
  • Gilbert Ryle's category error
  • Dawkins scientific view
• What were Dualist responses to critiques ?

  • Plato and Descartes argue the soul can live after death as its more than just physical behaviour
  • Descartes says the mind and body have different properties
• Is the Soul better understood metaphorically ?

  For - Empty house with no furniture is good analogy that avoids difficulties in it being taken literally for its location

  Against - Metaphors are different for different people + metaphors ignore the spiritual viewpoint of the soul