Various Theories of Mind and Body - Essay Example

Mind and Body Introduction Most of the people accept that there are two separate entities. The mind and the body! The question of body having a physical characteristic is not questioned by most of the researchers. However, the question of mind having physical attribute is questioned by many. Theories relating to the working of the mind and body have its beginning with Descartes (Descartes R, 1968) followed by a number of others who created and modified the concept to a great extent. Modern research shows that the state of the mind has serious impact on the performance of the body. Optimistic mind seems to create a successful physical presence or cure it off its illnesses. Similarly, there are a number of cases when the presence of a strong body influences the mind and it continues to exist healthily. The interaction between the mind and the body has been suggested to be supportive in nature. This essay will analyze the various theories that have been made by researchers after presenting some of them. Based on the theories further analysis is done to check the suitability of these theories and whether they answer all the questions that are present in the modern world. Various theories of Mind and Body The earliest of the theories was on Dualism, the separate existence of mind and body. The physical differentiation of the mind and the body was easily achievable. As Descartes points out (Wozniak, Robert H. 1995), by cutting of a part of the body, say a leg, the body is affected but there is no change in the way the mind works. This makes them isolated and hence, the mind and the body exist as separate entities. This theory of dualism was strengthened during the days of Descartes and in the 17th century when it branched out into material or substance dualism and property dualism. Cardemoy and, later, Malebranche furthered Cartesian dualism (Wozniak, Robert H. 1995). Every thing physical according to them is extendable in the physical world. One can see what the other person is holding if it is physical. In case of the mind, what is owned by the other person is not known; so also the person’s own mind. It is not known fully even to the person who has it. However, in the case of Cartesian dualism, it is taken that the mind does not occupy any space whereas the physical body would occupy space (Churchland, Paul M. 1988). Since it does not occupy space, one cannot realize what the other person holds. And the mind continues to be a mystery. In the case of popular dualism, the mind would interact with the physical world but what it is made of and what it is will continue to be a mystery. Property dualism on the other hand, visualizes the mind to be a byproduct of the physical world and a part of the evolutionary mechanism. Epiphenomenalism, proposed by Skinner (1971), looks at the mind as a part of the evolutionary development of the human being. He also proposed that mind will not be able to cause any physical change by itself. Whereas the other proponents of the property dualism argue that the mind can cause physical effect. This is reflected in a number of phenomenons of psycho motor effects to prove the point. While in the later eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries, the Monism was proposed and discussed. While Monism essentially falls under two main categories, there are a number of sub categories within them. Materialism viewed the entire world as a material object. This included the mind and the body as well. They both worked in sync with one another and one evolved from the other as a process. Whereas in the case of idealism, everything is controlled by the mental behavior of the people! Reality is made up of the spiritual forces and these forces are the ones that will push every action in the material world. Mind control physical power and mind can move it without the help of the physical power. In the nineteenth century, the epiphenomenon was proposed by Hodgson (1870) to further the idea that the mind and the body are inseparable; the mind cannot have a physical significance. Whereas the interactionism proposed by Carpenter (1874) held that the interaction between the two continued to exist and that one influenced the other. This idea was later influenced by science and the technological growth in the twentieth and the twenty first centuries. In his Principles of Psychology, William James, the author of Mind Stuff says, that mind and body are but one. They are however, characterized at every point by what they stand for. That is to say, there are a number of stuff, which combines to make up the mind and its actions. This leads to the concept of multiple entreaties that make a decision possible. The modern day research indicates that the mind and the body are becoming more and more inseparable. One affects the well being of the other (Daniel Goleman, Joel Gurin Apr 1993). When the mind is affected, so is the body. The energy in the body is sapped when the mind is not motivated. Even cancer patients were found to have relief when their mind is controlled. So is the case with other chronic pains when people undertake meditation. The mind seems to have a conditioning effect on the illnesses of the body. This has taken the form of a mind / body medicine enabling the work together of the science of understanding the way mind works; and the way in which it affects the body. Though the theoretical aspect of the metaphysics throws up light which understands the phenomenon in much wider light, the modern thought of metaphysics is the understanding that the understanding is not adequate! This promotes a position that says that the known science is not fit enough to decipher the relationship between mind and the body. But the mind and the body seem to have a number of hard and soft differences as promulgated by Descartes and continued by thinkers in the science. Analysis of the existing theories An analysis of the existing theories, indicate that the man kind has to define many terms before the understanding is complete. Descartes indicates that the mind-body problem shows no relationship between one another. They are different stuff that has absolutely no relationship or similarity in their existence but the one is interacting with the other. While the dualism supports existence of mind as a separate entity. But this does not obviously take into consideration what happens if some one is to cut off the head. That means the mind is cut off. And if the brains are transplanted to another person, is the mind transplanted into a new body. This leaves the dualism theory hunting for a solution under this context. There is of course, the idea that the mind is not the brain. Brain has data and information. But that is not all. Mind is more connected to the life or the soul and can roam about without the need of the body. But then, it cannot interact with anything physical. It exists in a different plane. This theory in dualism is still uncontested. In case of monism, the concept of mind as an evolutionary step in the animal that is human being is stronger. Most of the happenings of the human body and its behavior get explained this way. But then, it fails to explain some of the behaviors of the human mind with respect to its interaction with the physical world. The concept does not support the idea of human mind being a powerful motivator or director for the physical body. However, there is the issue of the mind not getting affected by the actions on the physical body. When the body is burnt or amputated, the effect on the mind is almost nothing except for the pain that is felt. That again is only felt as a part of the body and not as a part of the mind. This factor again indicates that the mind is isolated from the body and has a connection that is more like a relationship of equals but with opposing qualities. Therefore, the other concepts relating to interactionism and mind-stuff were all born to explain these disjoint happenings. While both of these concepts more or less resemble each other, the interaction between the mind and the body is more insisted upon by the interactionism (The mind-body problem); whereas the mind-stuff interprets the same with stuff that reacts to every action or happening around the body. This makes it more of a hybrid and an extension of both the earlier concepts. In all these cases, the understanding of mind and body seems to be more influenced by the biological interpretations more in line with the findings of Gall and later by Flourens who also established that the working of the mind is really the working of the brain. Whether it is the emotions that were not fully understood or the controlling of the body from cerebrum to other parts of the brain, it was found in due course how and where the effect of the mind was and which was acting as the mind. All this only implied that the mind is really a part of the body, biologically. The job executed by the mind might be different from what the other parts of the body might really be doing. While mind seems to be the software that controls the various aspects of the body, the body is the physical executing object for the mind. The two are needed to make a successful human being. Many people including Thomas Laycock (Hergenhahn, B.R. 2005), established that the many of the psychological functions of a human being had its root in the brain and that this has nothing to do with a multiple object other than the body. This also lays bear the belief systems that were the major influences in the way the body and the mind were interpreted. If it is assumed that mind and the body were one and the same and that they are parts of a body that have different functions to do, there are a few questions that need to be answered (Alfred Adler 1931). This concept of naturalism has to answer the questions of Qualia and the Intentionality. While Qualia is the difference in individual perception of a factor, intentionality is about natural processes that do not always have a true or false value. This is important since the perception differences noted by individuals could be widespread. The intensity of pain felt by one person is more or less than the other. This differentiation shows that the mind does not work the same way with every one. It is not some thing that is ‘manufactured’. This is the reason why the detractors of the naturalism indicate that the mind is different from the body and that they are different for different individuals. Do any of these theories provide the final solution for the mind-body problem? As the modern day physiologists know, the brain is the store of all mind power. It has its own modes and means of getting things done, through the physical world. Now, these theories point to a unified mind and body that work in sync and is a natural evolution obeying the laws of natural selection. Every theory has its own pros and cons. There are researchers who have disproved every one of them while some others have supported the theory. However, the knowledge at the current levels indicates a large gap, yet to produce the required results. Conclusion Based on the points raised in the earlier paragraphs and on the theories cited so far, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. The theories do hold solutions to most of the problems that were unanswered in the mind body problem. Starting from Descartes every one of the philosophical and metaphysical researchers has produced solutions in one form or the other. The modern day theories hold solution to most of the problems. They look at mind and body as an integral part of the evolutionary process. However, they view mind as something made of numerous ‘stuff’ that have their own ‘threads’ of thought and therefore, action. This seems to highlight and provide most of the solutions to the problems identified between mind–body. 2. The unanswered questions on the mind-body problem linger about the isolation and the reason why mind has physical representation in some cases. The soul which is also considered to be a part of the mind as well, does not offer any tangible existence in the world. Therefore, the existence of mind as a physical or even as a non physical entity is being questioned by the modern day theorists. There is no nucleus in a human being which could be called the person. And there is no evidence to the contrary. 3. The new question arises when the mind is viewed as a part of the body. This would mean that mind is material and will obey the material laws of nature. All the decisions made by the mind therefore, have to obey the laws of nature as well. This implies that the mind and its decisions can be foreseen or predicted by science. This would question the idea of whether there will be a free mind at all. If that is the case, how is it possible that a mind is able to think beyond what is laid out already? Or in other words, how can a mind invent something that does not exist or that is not realized if it has to follow the laid down track? If the mind is not following the laws of nature and there are new tracks that are being created, then it means mind is not material! And therefore, body and mind are not one and same. 4. Finally, therefore, the question of body and mind remains unanswered. Theories that has been analyzed seem to have thrown open some of the doors. A few more are closed. Only when the answers to all the doors are known will there be a solution to the mind-body problem. Until then the solution is only a conjecture with no clear proof. 5. And this is the new conjecture. Human body is a part of the evolutionary trail that nature has brought out. In this trail, the genes are one of the lower most denominations that have been controlling the evolution. These indicate that one or the other of the living micro-organisms have taken the form of the human gene (Moalem 2007). As a matter of fact, every one of the human body is a large colony of micro-organisms living together. So is the brain. The complexity of the micro-organisms grows with their own evolutionary pattern. And this is the reason why they create newer and newer inventions as they evolve. Therefore, there is no question of two bodies, mind and body; but millions of them. Body is made by a kind of living organism and the mind by another. References 1. Alfred Adler (1931) What Life Should mean to you? Unwin Books. 2. Carpenter (1874) Principles of Mental Physiology with their Applications to the Training and Discipline of the Mind, and the Study of its Morbid Conditions. Henry S King & Co., London. 3. Churchland, Paul M. (1988). Matter and Consciousness (revised edition). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 4. Daniel Goleman, Joel Gurin (Apr 1993) Mind-Body Medicine – at last. Psychology Today. 5. Descartes R, (1968) Discourse on Method and the Meditations (trans. E. A. Sutcliffe, Harmondsworth). 6. Hergenhahn, B.R. (2005). An Introduction to the History of Psychology (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth 7. Hodgson (1870) The Theory of practice. An Ethical enquiry in two books. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. London. 8. Maolem, Dr Sharon. (2007) Survival of the Sickest. HarperCollins Publishers. 9. The Mind-Body Problem. Available at: http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/Kardas/Courses/GPWeiten/C1Intro/MindBody.html 10. Wozniak, Robert H. (1995). Mind and Body: Rene Déscartes to William James , Bryn Mawr College, Serendip. Originally published in 1992 at Bethesda, MD & Washington, DC by the National Library of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, available at: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/. Read More