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Dualism

Dualism. Defining Dualism. A school of thought that suggest that suggests that there are two fundamental kinds or categories of things or principles Things are made of TWO irreducible parts Most commonly divides reality into mind and body or subject and object

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Dualism

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  1. Dualism

  2. Defining Dualism • A school of thought that suggest that suggests that there are two fundamental kinds or categories of things or principles • Things are made of TWO irreducible parts • Most commonly divides reality into mind and body or subject and object • The nature of the mind/body distinction is unique to each dualist philosopher • Dualists generally hold that there is physical reality and something else that is connected to mental phenomenon • Dualism often starts by assuming the reality of the physical world, then to considers why the mind is distinct of that world

  3. Descartes and Dualism • René Descartes (1596–1650) was a French philosopher and mathematician • Wrote two main pieces dealing with his metaphysical ideas – Meditations and Principles of Philosophy • Both works present similar ideas in different ways • Meditations is written as a series of reflections • Principles of Philosophy is laid out in numbered argument sections • Both works divide the world into mind (the ideal realm of thoughts) and body (the material world)

  4. Cartesian Dualism • Descartes rejects being able to rely on the senses as the only means for understanding reality • Recognizes that the senses are often mistaken • Engages in a thought experiment to determine what understands are left when all sensation • If only intellect is left to discover truth, it realizes that thinking is existing • Cogito ergo sum – “I think, therefore I am” • He can doubt the existence of the material world, but cannot doubt the existence of himself as a thinking thing • However, sensations do not come from the mind alone, they must come from somewhere else therefore there is something else

  5. Brain in the Vat • Descartes suggests that we are able to control our thoughts (mind), but have little to no control over sensations • Perhaps there is an evil deceiver tricking the mind into thinking the senses are real • Updated version of Descartes’ evil deceiver developed by Gilbert Harman • Places a brain in a vat, suspended in liquid and connected to electrodes • The liquids keep the brain alive, the electrodes are connected to a super computer that stimulate the brain • The stimulations from the computer become indistinguishable from how we perceive reality • Could our reality be a computer simulation?

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