The Existence of the Body and Mind - Essay Example

Module The Existence of the Body and Mind For a long time, the Question between the connection the mind and body have has received a lot of attention from many scholars. The main question is whether the mind and the body have any connection. Agreeably, the mind deals with mental processes that deal with consciousness and thought processes. The body, on the other hand, deals with the main physical attributes that make up a human being. It also houses the brain structure, which contains the mind. Whether these two have any connections or not is not an issue that many can answer without coming up various objections and counterarguments to prove that their arguments are valid and credible. One of the most important questions asked is whether the mind is part of the body or the body part of the mind. What makes the two connect or interact with each other if at all they are distinct? This also makes many wonder, which one should be in charge in case of distinctive existence. The question requires proper understanding and argumentation because every point of view has a logical explanation. The main aim is to ensure that the process of determining this will meet the main attributes of the relationship, explaining everything based on the theories put forward to explain this relationship. The mind and the body are two distinct attributes that casually interact at given times for the sake of performing bodily activities. Descartes is one of the proponents of dualism and pointed out clearly that the mind was the consciousness that existed within an individual. Unlike the brain, which was the source of the intelligence individuals possessed, the mind was an attribute that defined and determined the thought processes of a human being (Squire 20). The main reason for taking a dualistic stand is the fact that the mind has a different functionality in comparison to matter. Mind has a conscious attribute that cannot not reduced to physical attributes despite the number of times studies are conducted on it. A proper organization of matter allows for emergence of mental properties (Kim 40). The mind will only react to that which it sees as appropriately connected to the way it operates. This means that the mind will not come to full action when it perceives something is not okay. When someone is sick, the body has some deficiencies. The body will not operate well and the mind will be unresponsive in that area. For example, if one has leprosy, the body goes numb and no thought process can make that part of the body to have any form of functionality. The mind will work on receiving other forms of signals and black that out until the body becomes complete again (Russell & Norvig 189). The main idea of having a dualistic argument is that the body relies on itself to perform tasks and the mind relies on the physical environment, rather than the body to make memories (Vaughn 196). The qualities identified have to meet with the main attributes of the society, which define the mind as a soul that gives the body life through the interactions they have, and the body is the structure holding the brain (Kim 42). For those who cannot use their bodily functions but can make distinctions regarding their environment shows that the mind is not reliant on the body to make its decisions. One thing, though, is that the mind relies on the body for the structural housing provided in the brain. It has to have a place to exist in despite being distinct from the body (Squire 24-5). Thus, if the ideas in the mind are distinct and true, the causality between the mind the body does occur in a two-way manner. The mind has a causal effect on the body and the body has a similar effect on the mind though in an opposite direction. This has been cited as the best way of defining the main attributes that create new access to the main motivations that create desires and cultures in the society as a whole. Descartes noted, “the mind and body are distinct […] but the mind could have influence on the matter by driving the surrounding spirits towards the pores of the brain […] directing them through the nerves to the muscles […]” (Russell & Norvig 194). The main argument against dualism is the monism approach that believes that the only thing that exists is in two main categories. One is the materialistic type that only recognizes the material world like the brain, and the phenomenalistic world where physical objects can be reduced to mental properties, objects or events (Kim 48). According to the materialistic type of monism, the mental processes occurring can be traced to the central nervous systems and thus are physical processes emanating there. The phenomenalists opine that only the mental objects exist, where the body becomes a perception of the mind. This argument regarding monism is flawed. The only way one can accept the existence of the mind and body is by admitting that they are present and distinct, with causality present (Kim 45). The subjective nature of the mind and the body shows a new way of thinking about what exists and what does not. The main goal of the society is to entrench new perspectives that define reality based on what is ideal and what is not. The body exists distinctly and functions as a causality of the mind rather than its slave (Squire 27-9). The mind also has its way of dealing with what is happening in the real world, and the thought processes are ideal in meeting the main activities carried out by the body. By only recognizing one, it shows that the other is a slave and that is yet to be determined (Russell & Norvig 196). In conclusion, the body exists as a function of its own actions rather than a unique presentation of activities within the society. The main idea is to prevent the notion that each has a link to the other and cannot perform without it. The mind will have a positive relationship with the body only if matter is well arranged and in a proper sequence. If not, the interaction will be incomplete. Works Cited Kim, Jaegwon. Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Russell, S. & Norvig, P. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. 2010. Print. Squire, Larry R. Fundamental neuroscience (3rd ed.). New York: Academic Press, 2008. Print. Vaughn, Lewis. Living Philosophy: A Historical Introduction to Philosophical Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Print. Read More