Mind body and soul textbook A02

Question 1

Plato’s view that the soul is distinct from the body is convincing

Answer 1

• we often experience feelings of being a soul or a mind inside a body like a driver in a vehicle
• his views are supported by the holy scripture of some religions including Christianity which many believe to be authoritative sources
• Descartes had similar view with his hyperbolic doubt of the body but certainty of the mind - distinct substances with distinct properties
• allows possibility of life after death
• some people claim to have out of body experiences

Question 2

Plato’s view that the soul is distinct from the body is not convincing

Answer 2

• materialists argue there is nothing more to a person than physical matter
• no such thing as the soul
• Ryle argued drawing a distinction between the body and soul makes a category error
• no convincing evidence to support his ideas
• substance dualism does not have a convincing account of how the soul and body connect or are attached

Question 3

people are no more than complex physical matter

Answer 3

• no evidence to suggest people have souls or minds distinct from the body
• neuroscience is becoming more sophisticated and showing how different parts of the brain are responsible for different aspects of human behaviour
• Ryle - imagining people have souls that operate like a a ghost in a machine makes a category error

Question 4

people are more complex than physical matter

Answer 4

• Descartes - we can doubt our bodies but not our minds - cogito ego sum - must be a fundamental difference between them
• mind and body have very different properties so they cannot be identical substances
• rejecting belief that we are more than physical could have a profound on our ethics because of the way we view other people, the sanctity of life loses meaning
• rejecting belief in the soul is pessimistic and removes possibility of life after death
• no evidence that we do not have souls
• absence of evidence is not evidence of absence