Difference Between Dualism And Physicalism

Dualism vs Physicalism

The idea of the human mind has always been an important and difficult notion to describe in terms of a definition or set of conditions. Thoughts, beliefs, and desires seem to have a clear distinction from the tangible and visible elements of the physical human brain. Each is so distinct from one another that they can be considered two fundamentally different things. Utilizing a dualism approach, it is logical to discern that there are difference elements within the human body mind; The tangible elements of the brain can be labeled as physical states in this case, and the thoughts, beliefs, desires, pain, and other non-physical things as mental states. This paper will show that by utilizing Leibniz 's law, the argument

Physical properties do not share the same features as mental properties, as mental properties of the mind such as thoughts and beliefs don 't contain physical properties such as weight, color, or shape. Mental states are also claimed to be different from physical states because while physical things can be observed by everyone, a mental state can only be experienced by a single person, and no one else can experience that specific person’s mental state. Dualist views state that the mental and the physical are both real and neither can be assimilated to the other, and a convincing argument in favor of dualism can be constructed using Leibniz’s

Per this view, the brain and the mind are one wherein the mind is a by-product of physical neural connections and all mental state concepts such emotion and thought are simply a result of neuron and chemical hormone activity. A physicalist can answer to Leibniz’s law arguments by claiming that the same thing, a mental state and a physical state, are thought of under two different concepts. For example, imagine that Lois Lane is trying to establish the fact that Clark Kent is not Superman. She would make a list of properties that Superman possesses, and a list of properties that Clark Kent possesses. She would then pick out a property from each list and maybe stating that "Superman can fly" and “Clark Kent can 't fly", and logically conclude that Superman and Cark Kent cannot be the same person. Lois Lane is then viewing one person under two different concepts without realizing that they are the same man. Through this type of argument, the physicalist makes the claim that the physical and mental states should not be treated as separate entities, but simply as different concepts under a unifying and single physical state. This undermines the dualist argument by showing that multiple concepts can exist under a unitary physical state, instead of two distinct states. However, the physicalist rebuttal to the arguments for dualism does nothing to present a case in favor of physicalism, only undermine and take validity away from the case for