Ontology/Human nature - Essay Example

588117- Philosophy 588117- Philosophy s Grade (18.11.2011)Introduction: Most theorists, philosophers and thinkers, approach the mind- body issue in different perspectives. From the traditional study of mind, two categories came up: dualism and materialism theorists. Dualism looks at the mind as a non-physical substance while the materialists approach the mind as not being different from the physical. The materialist theorists argue that all the processes of the mind, properties and operations are indeed identical with the physical state in principle.

It is mostly argued whether there is any connection between how one behaves and the mental processes. People believe the facts, for example, whether there is God or it is only fate that controls human lives. Mind body identity theoryRene` Descartes takes us through the struggles between perception of the mind and what is on the ground; the physical, which is the human body. Through the mind body identity theory, dualism, materialistic monism and behaviorism theories are focused on while explaining the mind body identity.

Descartes theory of mind body identity in a way that shows the two are the same after going through the crisis of resolving whether one is dreaming or not. Descartes, in this theory, shows the doubts, which are always, present in human beings revolves around the facts and the things we perceive and yet cannot see.Descartes look at the mind as a substance but non physical (Descartes, 7). The body according to Descartes is seen as having a definite shape and can be perceived in various ways like touch and smell.

A body can be moved into different directions. Thoughts cannot be separated from the human body, and that is what makes a person whom he or she is. One can live as long as there is thinking taking place. On the other hand, thinking is only possible if there is a body (Descartes, 5). What comes to mind from the bodies assist someone to know the mind distinctly. By understanding someone’s body one can be able to perceive own mind more than anything else in the world.The theory of mind body identity is the best in explaining the aspects of a human mind and it explains how they relate to the physical aspect of the body.

The theory shows how behaviorism is related to the non physical brain. The mind cannot be perceived by touching, feeling or even smelling but can think and control the behavior of the physical body. Dualism is also brought in when the body and the mind are linked in that they cannot work without each other (palmer 196-203).The theory fails to look at the mental causation. For example, someone steps on a nail, feels pain and moves the leg from the nail. The mind tells the body to move, but what causes the mind to act.

The dualism aspect in the mind body theory of Descartes is not fully explained.ConclusionDescartes’ theory of mind body identity shows the connection between the non physical mind and the physical body. Other theories like dualism, behaviorism and materialistic monism revolve around this theory in showing how the mind cannot work without the body, how they affect human behavior and how they are related. Works citedDescartes, Rene. “Meditations on First Philosophy”. Meditations 1 and 2. April 2007.web. 18 Nov, 2011.

Found on, .Palmer Donald. “Does the Center Hold” 5th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 113-151.