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About Nash’s Approach

LIFE’S ULTIMATE QUESTIONS by Ronald Nash Chapter 18: Human Nature: The Mind-Body Problem and Survival After Death. About Nash’s Approach. Philosophers aim for clarity and objectivity One way to assure these goals are met is to

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About Nash’s Approach

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  1. LIFE’S ULTIMATE QUESTIONSby Ronald NashChapter 18: Human Nature: The Mind-Body Problem and Survival After Death Christopher Ullman, Professor-- Christian Life College

  2. About Nash’s Approach • Philosophers aim for clarity and objectivity • One way to assure these goals are met is to • Present all, or the most popular, positions on a particular topic, and to • Show that only one of those positions is adequate • A careful stating of adversarial positions is required for the philosopher to be free of the charge of the Strawman fallacy • The student’s job • Read positions which the author does not support, and • Evaluate the reasons for that lack of support Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  3. The Adversarial Method • Nash presents seven theories about the mind-body problem, and shows that only the Dualistic Interactionism position will satisfy. • If we accept Nash’s presentations of the other six theories, and his refutations of them, we will have no choice but to accept the seventh theory. Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  4. Monistic Theories Crude Materialism Epiphenomenalism Moderate Idealism Absolute Idealism Mind-Brain Identity Dualistic Theories Parallelism Interactionism The Seven Theories about the Mind/Body Connection Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  5. Chart of Theories (6 + 1) • Stars () = mental events • Plus signs (+) = physical events • Note: the Mind-Brain Identity Theory is a variety of Crude Materialism Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  6. Crude Materialism? Evidence that this is the one believed: ______________ ______________ ______________ Mind-Brain Identity? Evidence that this is the one believed: ______________ ______________ ______________ What theory rules today? Both are variations of the same core belief about human nature: monism Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  7. Human Existence is too complex to be explained by only one substance Matter alone is an in- sufficient expla- nation of Emotion Morality Spirituality Mind alone is an in-sufficient explanation of Sensed physical objects Body Physical drives Hunger Thirst Fatigue Why No Form of Monism Satisfies Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  8. Is there anything true of your body that is not true of your mind? ________________ ________________ ________________ Is there anything true of your mind that is not true of your body? ________________ ________________ ________________ Why Dualism is Appealing Dualism makes more satisfying explanations possible than does monism Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  9. Mind and Body are two distinct substances Mind is non-material Body is material “Since a non-material substance has no physical dimensions, it cannot make contact with any material substance” There is a correlation between mental events (thoughts) and physical events (actions) A thought occurs, and then an action occurs, or vice versa “God must be the One who bridges the two parallel tracks” - Spinoza What about Parallelism? Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  10. Diminishes God’s moral nature Bad actions become events facilitated by God’s direct intervention Who’s to say that the non-material cannot interface with the material? Our non-material God created the material universe Occam’s Razor applies here Parallelism: An Insufficient Explanation Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  11. Your spirit is not a tourist vacationing in a flesh cabin on planet Earth You are a mysterious unity of matter and spirit Spirit animates matter Spirit experiences through the body You are designed to exist as one person At this time, and After the resurrection of the dead 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Luke 24:39 1 John 3:2 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49, 51-53 Revelation 20:6, 12-13 The “Ghost” in the “Machine?” Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  12. Remember your first memory Who is remembering right now? Who had the experience that led to that first memory? A self is an enduring continuity of consciousness of existence as one being What is a “self?” Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  13. The you that is merely material is replaced with new material every 7 years What of you persists? Moral accountability is impossible unless you exist as a self You Exist as a Self • Enduring identity is a necessary condition for any • Praise, or • Blame Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  14. The meaning of “I” An immaterial soul that owns My experiences My mental states My body Without this belief, there is no basis for an afterlife Substance Dualism Our worldview leads us to believe in a life after death Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

  15. How will you recognize your friends in heaven, before the resurrection? How will you have feelings, before the resurrection? What kind of body will you have, in the resurrection? Food for Thought Christopher Ullman, Instructor -- Christian Life College

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