Substance Dualism Is The Belief That The Mind And The Body...

Substance dualism is the belief that the mind and the body are separate entities, consequently, an argument for dualism is that i. minds can experience anger, ii. Nothing physical can experience anger and therefore, minds are not physical. In this examination my goal is to show that minds are physical. I will argue against the second premise, showing that the mind is the brain, which is physical. I will do so by referring to the functionalist school of thought and additionally, by examining the functioning of the brain with regard to research on neuroscience. Furthermore, I will exhibit that substance dualist Rene Descartes’ work on non-human animals is inconsistent with research that shows the existence of mental states in non-human animals, thus confirming that minds are physical. Functionalism is the belief that a mental state, such as pain, â€Å"is to have an internal state which does a certain job† (Ravenscroft, 2005, p. 50). For example, the pain that a human bei ng feels and the pain that an octopus feels may have different physical processes within the brain, but the pain is still being felt; in other words, â€Å"to be in (or have) mental state M is to have an internal state which does the ‘M-job’ (Ravenscroft, 2005, p. 51). Any mental state M is defined in terms of inputs, outputs and internal connections, and for example, the pain role’s input may be stepping on a Lego piece, the output may be cursing and finally a possible internal connection, which is the causal linkShow MoreRelatedDualism And Belief That The Mind And Brain Essay1201 Words   |  5 Pagesfor dualism, he states that humans are composed of both an immaterial substance and a physical substance. Moreland notes that there are contrasting differences between the minds and the brains and that they are ultimately separate entities. 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