PHL100Y1 Lecture Notes - Pineal Gland, Mental Substance, Category Mistake
Document Summary
Interactionism the mind and the body are intimately connected pineal gland and nerves. Dualism: the mind and the brain/body are distinct from one another. The nature of the mind relies in no way on the brain/body. Substance dualism: stems from descartes (1596-1650) - the mind and the brain/body are distinct substances (a substance is a particular type of thing in the world). The mind and the body are two distinct things. The body is by its very nature divisible. The mind is by its very nature indivisible. He is really saying the mind and body are two different substances. A substance is something that can exist by itself and is characterized by certain attributes. For descartes, the world is made up of only two different kinds of substances: mental and physical. Mental substance: attribute of thought/thinking, of indivisibility, and of not being extended in space. Corporeal substance: attribute of divisibility and being extended in space.
