Dualism

Dualism

I believe that the popular or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism best solves the mind body problem. My views in this area have been influenced by my twelve years of Catholic education. The soul, or mind, depending on your level of belief, was a complete and separate entity and was the center of a human being. The body was an ambulatory device that the soul directed. The idea that the mind is a separate entity and that it is independent of the physical body is the central point of substance dualism.

Churchland explains that substance dualism claims that the mind is a distinct nonphysical thing, a complete nonphysical entity that is independent of any physical body to which it is temporarily attached. Any and all mental states and activities, as well as physical ones, originate from this unique entity. Substance dualism states that the real essence of you has nothing to do with your physical body, but rather from the distinct nonphysical entity of the mind. The mind is in constant interaction with the body. The body's sense organs create experiences in the mind. The desires and decisions of the mind cause the body to act in certain ways. This is what makes each mind's body its own.

The popular or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism states that a person is a "ghost in a machine", the ghost being the mind or



spirit and the machine is the body. Within this description, the mind/spirit controls the body and is in intimate contact with the brain. The brain would be the nexus between the mind and body.

The popular form of substance dualism was adopted after the difficulties of Cartesian dualism could not be overcome. Rene Descartes stated that the nonphysical and the physical could not interact. this became a problem in dualism since the nonphysical mind needed to interact with the physical body. These difficulties provided a motive for the move to popular substance dualism.

The first major argument for substance dualism is religion. Each of the major religions place belief in life after death; that there is an immortal soul that will survive death. This very closely resembles substance dualism. The mind can be substituted for the immortal soul. In fact the two are almost interchangeable. This argument is primarily the basis for my own belief in substance dualism. My personal experiences as a religion student give me insight into this argument.

The second major argument for substance dualism is irreducibility. this points to a variety of mental phenomena that no physical explanation could account for what is going on. An example would be the quality and meaningful content of human thoughts and beliefs. These things cannot be reduced to purely physical terms, hence irreducibility. This is also another good argument that I can understand from personal experiences. I cannot reduce my reactions and feelings toward how a steak tastes to a mathematical equation. This is the same idea.



The final argument for substance dualism is parapsychological phenomena. Mental powers such as telepathy, precognition, telekinesis, and clairvoyance are all near impossible to explain within the boundaries of physics and psychology. These phenomena reflect the nonphysical and supernatural nature that dualism gives to the mind. Because I believe in these phenomena, it seems logical to me that parapsychology is an excellent argument for substance dualism.

These arguments give a good basis for a philosopher to believe in substance dualism. However there are also serious arguments against it

The first major argument against dualism is simplicity. Materialists state that because their view is simpler (they only believe in one thing- that which is physical) it is more rational to subscribe to their view. The materialist point of view is also easier to prove because there is no doubt that physical matter exists, while nonphysical matter is currently a hypothesis. This argument seems very illogical to me. Philosophical views should be chosen because one makes more sense to you, not because one has a smaller number of ideas within it.

The second major argument against substance dualism is explanatory impotence. Materialists can explain anything physical through scientific study, whereas dualists can explain nothing because no theory has ever been formulated. Churchland says, "...dualism is less a theory of mind than it is an empty space waiting for a genuine theory of mind to be put in". I see one flaw with the materialist theory here. The mind in the dualist



theory may use a form of energy transfer not yet discovered by science. Centuries ago, undiscovered forms of science were refuted and called "magic". In the future, The mind may become completely understood by science.

The third argument against substance dualism is neural dependence. That the mental capacities depend on the brain's neural activities. The materialists show that the mind is altered when the brain is altered by drugs or injuries. I would explain this by saying that since the mind is a separate nonphysical entity and cannot interact with physical matter, it needs a focal point to control the body from. This focal point is the brain. The mind and the brain are so intimately intertwined any disruption of the brain will affect the mind.

The Final argument against substance dualism is evolutionary history. The materialist states that human beings have been incrementally built up from simpler physical creatures. This is evolution. Because this is a pure physical process and the simpler creatures we were constructed from had no nonphysical mind, there is no way to account for our mind. This is a difficult argument to win. The only rebuttal I can give is that because we are a pinnacle of evolution, we developed the nonphysical mind along with free-will and our level of intelligence. This may be an extremely arrogant and proud view, but it is the only one I can think of.

I believe that the strength of dualism's positive arguments outweighs is detractions.





Works Cited

Churchland, Paul M. Matter and Consciousness.

Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1994

Dreams

Since the dawn of mankind, man has been searching for the
answer to just one question: Why do we dream? I believe
strongly that the reason is not clear-cut and as easy to answer
as it might seem. I think that dreams range in meaning and
importance.

When someone has a dream, there are many possible
types of dreams they could have. First of these possibilities is
for a dream that involves absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
The dream is meaningless and involves a chain or series of
events that are unrelated to one another and may be of people
or places familiar or not. These dreams are most likely created
because of the flash and mixture of chemicals that occurs
during sleep. Many times these dreams are actually so bazaar
that they have no meaning even to the dreamer. So these
dreams are mostly just passed over and ignored.

The second type of dream is one in which the dreamer
can comprehend everything that is going on but things seem to
have no meaning as before. But in some of these dreams,
there are symbols that come into play. When you look at these
dreams sometimes they can represent real life events. Often
these are predictions about what could happen in the future or
are an interpretation of things that have passed. These, like
almost all other dreams have significance as a result of bodily
rejuvenation processes. This type of dream has a significance I
believe in helping the person have the feeling of a good sleep,
where things have, if not in some bazaar way, been resolved.

The third type of dream is one which makes great and
perfect sense to the dreamer but doesn't have any real
meaning. An example of this is dreaming that you are flying.
Although you know what you are doing, and are
comprehending this, it really doesn't have meaning in your life.
Dreams like this can be quite mentally satisfying to the dreamer.
Many times a dream like this can be almost a form of
entertainment to the dreamer, especially if the dreamer realizes
they are dreaming. When this happens sometimes the dreamer
will take control of their dream and can do things they would
not normally be able to do in real life.

Another type of dream is one where the dream has full
meaning and the dreamer can fully realize everything that
happens. Dreams like this can show exactly the way things
could happen in the future, or ways of dealing with problems
that will occur or have occurred. Many people believe that a
dream of this kind could be an actual depiction of the way
things will happen. Many people swear to this belief. I
personally do believe in this possibility.

Basically, I believe that people have not even begun to
realize the potential of the human mind. I think that even with
as much as we know about technology, it cannot even compare
to the power and unlimited ability of the human mind. I
believe that many times, our dreams can actually be predictions
about the future. Also, I personally believe that the mind can
actually solve problems while in a sleep state. I know that
sometimes I have gone to sleep with a problem planted in my
mind, and would awaken having dreamt of an answer. Many
times this would help me to more clearly confront the problem
and resolve it.

I don't really believe in any one of the theories about
dreaming myself, but rather think that a mixture of all of them is
true. What it comes down to is that dreaming is a chemical
process that at the same time generates a side-effect that we call
dreaming. But the brain itself actually will control this so that it
sometimes has meaning to us. I believe that subconsciously we
have areas of the brain that are in-tune to things beyond
normal comprehension. These areas develop the real meaning
of dreams and their significance in our lives.

Dreams 2

The assignment is to recall a dream and analyze it from one or two theoretical perspectives we've learned thus far in dream analysis. Dreams have been a vehicle to express emotions, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes they pose questions which have been rooted in our conscious. Dreams are personalized works which we have consciously directed and created in our minds and no one interpretation is right or wrong. Weeks later upon receiving this assignment I had an incredible dream of my mother of which I will never forget.
It was a beautiful sunny day, not one cloud to blemish the sky. I remember this particular afternoon being warm and bright. The scenery seemed to depict a post card perfect summer's day. My mother and I were walking in a park, a park I've never visited or seen. I felt as if anyone were to stare at us they could see the contentment and harmony radiating from myself. I was watching myself lay down on very soft green grass, but before I did I turned around to see if my mother was still near. I saw myself lay down under a tree. This tree was uniquely beautiful because of its thin twisting, almost fragile looking branches. The tree was unusual for it was bare, there were no leaves, nor was it green. The tree just stood by itself colored naked and bare for all to witness. The birds of summer seemed to favor this unique looking tree by gathering and sitting on its thin but strong branches. I laid under this tree looking up towards the birds feeling happy. I heard myself laughing and listening to these birds singing. Where after I walked towards a pond, a man made pond of gray marble brick. An immense wall lining a narrow stairwell was to its left. My mother was kneeling by the pond wading her hand just above the water, touching it very delicately. This was her pond and her pond had the most incredibly beautiful bright fish. They consisted of aqua blue, yellow and green colored fish with fins that seemed to be as fine as hair as it floated towheads my mother's hands. I watched myself watching her, feeling as if I was invading a private moment and in awe of the spectacle I was witnessing.
We left the park and her pond and were on our way home. As we walked arm in arm the weather seemed to be getting darker and colder. The clouds rolling in seemed to be constricting and threatening to engulf us. We arrived an immense bridge which was hundreds of feet above a body of murky water. I felt threatened and didn't trust crossing this bridge and my mother instinctively new my fear and preceded to cross, reassuring me it was safe. I didn't cross the bridge but watched her take her steps alone. She reached the middle of the bridge and it collapsed. I ran towards the edge looking down at my mother as she was struggling to hold on and trying to get a better grip. She was calling out my name, begging me to help her, but I just stood there frozen in silence and feeling no emotion. I saw her fingers turn white as they lost their hold one by one, until she was holding on with just one hand. She turned her head to look at me one last time before she lost the grip in her other hand and fell. I remember hearing no noise of her body hitting the water, just empty silence, but the expression of her face is etched into my memory.
Remembering this dream brings up emotions of guilt and was painful to envision. There are many theoretical perspectives one can use to analyze such dreams. Ultimately to find a potential explanation or interpretation of what dreams mean. I have looked closer into the works of Sigmund Freud to study what this all means and maybe find an appropriate analysis of my dream.
Freud is one of the most popular theorists today and has developed many theoretical perspectives pertaining to personality. He organized three levels of mental life; the unconscious, preconscious and the conscious. Simply put the unconscious is the irretrievable stuff in our memory, the preconscious if the retrievable stuff and the conscious if the stuff in current awareness.
Over lapping this concept is his three levels of the mind which are the Id, Ego and Superego. The "id" is a part of the mind which seeks pleasure, it is irrational and not rooted in reality. The "ego" serves the reality principle and is more rational and connected to reality. Finally, we have the "superego" which is our moral and idealistic principle. It speaks as your conscious, judging and making you feel guilty. All these concepts display sides of personality whether good or bad.
Freud believed that dreams or "Freudian slips" were a "disguised means of expressing unconscious impulses or hidden desires." He gave greater emphasis to that of the latent content over the manifest content . The latent content being the unconscious material in our dream which reduces anxiety. Where as the manifest content is the surface meaning or the dream as recalled by the dreamer. Freud's basic assumption was that all dreams are wish-fulfillment's.
Freud noted three typical anxiety dreams: the embarrassment dream of nakedness, dreams of death of a beloved person and dreams of failing an exam. In my case I dreamt the death of my mother and felt guilty for not saving her. Freud interprets the death of an older person such as a parent as fulfilling the Oedipal wish. During my dream I felt anxiety and guilt which he depicts as typical for adults as well as children. The female Oedipus complex is a term used by Freud to indicate feelings of hostility for the mother and sexual love for the father. Although I dreamt of death, he states that I do not necessarily mean to have a death wish for my mother. I agree it could have been a reflection of hostility towards her but disagree greatly with the generalization of sexual love for my father.
There was a significant emphasis on the description of the tree. The tree looked fragile, thin and naked. This could be interpreted according to Freud as an anxiety of the embarrassment dream of nakedness. Adults repress the desire to exhibit the nakedness of oneself. Freud may have interpreted the tree as a reflection of myself and the birds as spectators. These particular spectators refrain from scolding and make me feel accepted and happy.
Dream content may be distorted through condensation and displacement according to Freud. Condensation is the compression of several ideas of the latent manifest content. Condensation is embodied by three characteristics of compression, omission and fragments. Compression is the latent content projecting itself towards the manifest content. Omission is a "guardian" which doesn't let the latent element through. Fragments are pieces of the latent element which does get through. Displacement is the shift of emphasis from important to unimportant (vice-versa) in the manifest content or the replacement of latent item with a remote item. My dreams seem to have a greater emphasis on the 'nice' things such as grass, trees, water and de-emphasized the 'dark' side of the dream leading up to my mother's fall. Freud concluded this structuralization of the dream to reduce fearful or anxiety -provoking situations.
Sexuality is a recurring them in the works of Freud and it is believed to be the root problem or feeling in our dreams. Nakedness and sexuality also play a major role in my dream which display symbolic meaning, psychoanalytic importance (latent content). Freud generalized the manifest content to always relate to conscious and preconscious material from the day before.
Freud believed that dreams were wish-fulfillment's, of course this is not the case with my dream of my mother falling. He perceived many of our wishes in dreams as originating during our early childhood experiences. This resulted from the suppression of infantile sexual behaviour which recur many years later in our dreams. He distinguished that not all dreams originate in childhood experiences, but result from adult wishes. Freud contributed to the works of dream interpretation and his is just one of many insights to the mystical world of dreams. Everyone has their interpretative analysis and no one answer is right, but we may come closer to a simplistic generalization, maybe even produce a dictionary on how to read your dream.