Dualism

Descartes argues in favor of dualism, the mind is completely independent of the body and vice versa. We have a sense this kind of dualism exists when we say, “I am a mind with a body.” Descartes argues that the self exists in consciousness and that the body is simply a machine the mind controls. Further, dualists support their argument by comparing essences of both the mind and body; the mind is indivisible and free and the body is infinitely divisible and is determined by the laws of the physical universe. This would make them seem as separate entities. The appeal of dualism is in the indivisibility of the mind, if we are just our consciousness then that means when our body dies, the consciousness can still exist. In this paper I shall explain dualism’s appeal and then why it should be rejected. In addition, I recognize there are many different branches of monism, but they will not be debated here due to length constraints, instead I will argue in favor of monism as a whole.

There is an appeal to dualism that religion and popular culture addresses, that is, we exist independent of the body. It addresses our common sense; the self is not the body, but our consciousness and if you change the body we are still ourselves. We can imagine being in a different body, but we cannot imagine being a different consciousness. We act within the physical world and we can act within our own minds, independent of the physical universe. The benefit to a dualist belief is that we exist beyond our mortal bodies and can continue to exist despite the death of our bodies. In addition, dualists argue that if our mind were just a result of the body then how does one account for subjective thoughts of the world? Why can one person find spicy food enjoy...

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...r, I disagree with this notion because everyone has different wiring in their brains. If everyone had the same wiring then everyone would have the same emotions or feeling when they are exposed to the same stimuli. However through a person’s different experiences from birth to present and their inherent biology the brain has creates a slightly different neural network than everyone else. Assuming everyone would have the same experience to a stimuli would be like assuming all balls—from a new red rubber to an old bowling—would react the same to the same stimulus because they are all balls.

The reason dualism cannot be correct is because without the body there can be no mind. If the mind is not free to leave the body when the body is alive, then why would it suddenly be free once the body is dead? I cannot accept the idea that my consciousness exists without my body.