Evolutionism, Creationism, and the Mind-Brain Problem
Evolutionism and Creationism: Contrasting Theories
Are evolutionism and creationism theories opposed? They operate within different frameworks. Evolution is a scientific theory, while creationism is a religious belief. The opposite of evolutionism (the doctrine that all species today come from more primitive species) is Fixism (the doctrine that asserts that species are separate and remain unchanged over time).
Conversely, the opposite of creationism (the doctrine that all reality originates from a creator, often God) is materialism (the doctrine that all reality can be reduced to fundamental matter). Creationism opposes evolutionism only when interpreted in a fixist key, and evolutionism opposes creationism only when interpreted materialistically.
Lamarckism
Lamarck proposed that species originate through the evolution of prior species. His explanation rested on two laws:
- Law of Use and Disuse: Ongoing efforts to adapt to the environment cause small changes in an organism.
- Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics: These changes are transmitted to offspring.
Darwinism
Darwin discovered the true function of natural selection. Individuals do not adapt to the environment through effort, but the environment selects the best-adapted individuals. This mechanism, called natural selection, defines the survival of the fittest. Darwin argued that when individuals outnumber resources, a struggle for survival occurs, and the fittest emerge victorious.
Functionalism, Behaviorism, and the Mind-Brain Problem
Behavioral psychology, aligned with reductionist theories, views the mind as a black box. We only have access to stimuli affecting the body and the physical responses that result. Behaviorists believe that those who separate mind and brain make the same mistake as someone who, upon seeing classrooms, laboratories, a library, and the rectory, fails to recognize the university as a whole. There aren’t two separate realities (mind and brain), but a single one integrating physical and psychic aspects of behavior.
Functionalism denies that the mind is a thing or substance, reducing it to a function or set of functions carried out by the brain. The brain resembles a computer program that receives, processes, and transmits information.
Emergentism and the Mind
In recent years, positions that acknowledge the physiological basis of behavior while preserving the autonomy of the mental have gained ground. Emergentism, operating within materialism, and theories close to dualism, such as Popper’s Three Worlds theory, argue that mind and brain are related but distinct. Influenced by evolutionist theories, emergentism views the mind as an emerging phenomenon in the organization of matter. Just as life emerged from inorganic matter, consciousness emerges from unconscious matter.
Without a material basis, thought would not exist. Psychic phenomena like thoughts, dreams, and feelings are features of neural phenomena to which they are associated.