Which Theory of Mind and Body Do You Believe?

[Xander Harris]

In philosophy class today we dealt with theories of mind and body. There is no theory so bizarre that it has not had dedicated defenders over the years. I am curious to see what theories prevail among anime fans.

Note that 'minds' include the soul.

Idealism: There is no material world. It's an illusion. There are just minds, and we imagine that there are bodies, but there aren't.

Materialism: There are just bodies. Only matter is real. There are no minds. What we consider to be minds are simply brain states that can be quantified by measuring electrical impulses.

Interactionism: Mind and body both exist as distinct entities. They have an effect on each other. What happens to the body affects the mind and vice versa.

Epiphenomenalism: The body affects the mind, but the mind has no effect on the body.

Double Aspect Theory: There are no bodies or minds. They are just different sides of the same substance.

Parallelism: It appears that what happens to the mind affects the body and vice versa, but that is not the case. They act independantly of each other, but there [I]seems[/I] to be a causual correlation between the two.

Pre-established Harmony: Like parallelism, but what happens to mind and body is determined by God. Therefore, there seems to be a causual correlation between what happens to the mind and what happens to the body because God set them both on parallel courses.

Occasionalism: My understanding of Occasionalism is that God controls the mind, and sees to it that the mental life has a close correspondance with what happens to the body.

So, which of these theories do various OB members hold?

Myself, I think I ascribe more to Interactionism.

[Muad'Dib]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=DarkOliveGreen]I would have to go with interactionism. It just seems the most plausable out of the lot. Though Materialism does have a level of truth to it, the fact that we've become self-aware kind of contradicts it. All of them, given that we haven't figured out the way the universe works, are entirely possible. Interactionism I suppose is the most appealing.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Brasil]

I think it's worth noting that Idealism, also known as Solipsism, is widely considered philosophical psychosis. To the Solipsist, the physical world is only an illusion, and therefore, they believe that a drag-race on a freeway isn't really happening, and because the external world is an illusion, it's perfectly safe to walk into traffic, because, well, they believe the traffic doesn't exist.

Right...lol. Descartes demonstrated traces of Solipsism in his philosophy, actually, though he was far from eager to make that leap. Through his wax experiment, he was able to prove that the physical senses deceive us, because his senses were telling him that this (melted wax) wasn't the same wax as a hard candle, yet through Rationalism (innate ideas), he was able to know that it was indeed the same wax.

In some respects, Rationalism is similar to Solipsism, you could say, but Rationalism is more or less intuition-based, while Solipsism...is just absurd, lol.

I lean most towards Existentialism, honestly. We make ourselves. We're not guided by anything except what we want, and the choices we make.

[Adahn]

[font=Courier New][size=2][color=blue]I'm leaning towards Materialism, but I have a bit of a problem with it. Yes, our minds can be physically represented by the matter and energy that compose our brains, but this doesn't mean the mind doesn't exist. That's like saying hands don't exist because they are made up of skin, bone, muscle, etc. The mind is a dynamic collection of neurons, and their respective positions, shapes, sizes, charges, and alignments. It is physical, but it exists.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]On a side note, I wonder how the mind reacts to losing a limb. The physical arm may no longer be attached, but the mind remembers what it is like to have an arm. Does it feel like the arm's still there, but is immobile? If the arm exists in the mind as a well-developed, permanent area of neurons, can we say that the arm no longer exists? Though it may not be physically represented on the person himself, it has a representation in the mind, and so continues to exist.[/color][/size][/font]

[Retribution]

[QUOTE=Adahn]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]On a side note, I wonder how the mind reacts to losing a limb. The physical arm may no longer be attached, but the mind remembers what it is like to have an arm. Does it feel like the arm's still there, but is immobile? If the arm exists in the mind as a well-developed, permanent area of neurons, can we say that the arm no longer exists? Though it may not be physically represented on the person himself, it has a representation in the mind, and so continues to exist.[/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

Yes, there's been research that shows that people with ampuatated limbs feel 'itchy' there sometimes and need to 'scratch' it. I think it's mainly because of the slight electrical charge humans have on the outside of our skin. And when a limb is lost, the electrical barrier field thing is still there, therefore it feels like we have it. And slowly, after a while (years), your body accepts the limb is gone. Interesting really.

I'll have to go with Interactionism, mainly because of the sugar pill experiment. Where people were told they were getting medicine to fight their symptoms, and in most cases, it helped them somewhat - mainly just their mentality that the 'medicine' would work.

And when your body is a certain way, you feel like that. If you look down alot, you might start to feel down cast, or vice versa. If you are in the sun alot, you might be happier than a person that's always been in the dark. It's got alot to do with chemicals, but yeah. Know what i mean?

But then again, it's a whole 'nother can of worms to prove a mind exists. I guess it's hard... but yeah. It's got something to do with the mystery of the brain. And perhaps, one day, if we figure out all its secrets, we can prove that a certain process is dedicated to what we call a 'mind.' Until then, I'll keep my idea of a mind.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[QUOTE=Siren]
I lean most towards Existentialism, honestly. We make ourselves. We're not guided by anything except what we want, and the choices we make.[/QUOTE]

[color=indigo]Although I have never been a big fan of existentialist writing, I do more or less agree with most aspects of the philosophy. Not only am I a big fan of the "individual" (obviously I am the greatest me out there), I also agree with the stress that existentialsm places on responsibility and consequences of your actions.

The only aspect that I think is slightly under emphasized in existentialism is the impact that enviornment [b]can[/b] make on the human condition. However, you could always state that by being in control of yourself you always have the ability to modify your enviornment.

God, how I love philosphy. It is so putty like.[/color]