Understanding Dualism: Mind-Body Theories and Philosophies
Understanding Dualism: Mind and Body
Dualist Theory: The human being cannot be reduced to either the mind or the body alone; it is composed of two components: “mind” and “brain” or “soul” and “body.”
Platonic Dualism
According to Platonic dualism, the human beings we see in this world are composed of body and soul, but this union is a simple accident. In reality, the soul is immaterial and immortal and existed before joining the body, so the true human being *is* its soul. Separated from the body, the soul is the vital principle that keeps the body alive and moving, but its role is more than self-knowledge. The soul tends to approach the world of ideas, its true homeland. The body is material and mortal: a prison where the soul is confined during this life, burdening the person with material needs and desires that alienate them from the celestial world and drag them into the confusing and painful earthly world.
Interactionist Dualism
Interactionist dualism is the thesis defended by the neurophysiologist John C. Eccles in the 20th century. His ideas include: “Mind and Brain, two different realities.” There are facts to be explained, including a claimant autonomous mind, for example, the unitary character of the experiences of voluntary human action, the temporal disparity between conscious experience and neural events, the peculiarity of human memory, and the connection with language. By itself, the brain is insufficient to give an account of mental phenomena. According to Eccles, the interaction between the physical and mental is happening in the cerebral cortex, more precisely between the clusters of dendrites, called “Dendron,” hypothetical units and mental activity, which he calls “psicones.” Apart from the brain structure, there is another reality, called “self,” “psyche,” “soul,” or “ego,” which is different in nature and not material to the brain, which is responsible for the uniqueness of humans.
Hylemorphism
In contrast to Platonic dualism, Aristotle maintained that the soul and body are two complementary and inseparable principles or ingredients of a single reality or substance of the human being. This dualism is especially significant because it distinguishes two principles but stresses that they can be separated only in our imagination, while in reality, they are always together. Matter cannot exist without a particular form, hence the name hylemorphism. The body is the base material, and the soul is the substantial form of the human. The latter is what gives it its characteristic properties for life, sensation, movement, speech, and thought. As soul and body cannot exist without one another, it is very difficult to maintain that the soul is immortal. To resolve this problem, Aristotle advocated a complex theory which says that human beings possess a nous (mind, intellect) with a higher role, called agent intellect, which is “separate, immortal, and eternal.” This tradition also lies in the 13th century with Thomas Aquinas, who tried to make sense of Christian faith from Aristotelian philosophy. St. Thomas believes that the soul is the body’s form, but is that Aristotle expressly dualist. Especially when you use the idea of “separate the soul” to explain the resurrection and immortality: after death until the resurrection promised by Christianity, especially the soul separated to form a new glorious body which will unite forever at the end of time.
Cartesian Dualism
The influential French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) had a radical dualism of scientific knowledge from the Renaissance and an absolute confidence in the ability of human reason. Through complex reasoning, Descartes states that the human being is composed of the union of two completely different substances: the body, an extended substance, and the soul, a thinking substance. He believed that communication between the two realities is produced by the pineal gland, located below the brain.