PHILO-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Mental Substance, Res Extensa, Pineal Gland
24 Aug 2020
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Document Summary
The mind-body problem: the issue of what mental phenomena really are and how they relate to the physical world. Dualism: two different kind of substances that can interact in some supernatural way (mind does not equal brain) Reductionism: they don"t interact; mind is just a property of body. All mental processes are just physical processes (mind = brain process or mind = brain function) No changes in mind occur without changes in body although mental states may not be identical with brain states. The mental states still depend on brain states. (mind emerged from brain) Substance dualism: mind, spirit or consciousness as distinct from body. Casual influence: bidirectional mind effects body and vice versa. Proposed types of substances: mental or spiritual, physical. View on reductionism: mental events & properties cannot be reduced to physical events or properties. Gave rational" arguments to support view bases on introspective reflections. Two substances interact through the pineal gland (never accepted)
