03 Mind and Brain F25.pdf

Dualism… ?

• We have a natural intuition that our minds and bodies are not together.

We think of ourselves as “owning” our body. The word “mine” is across all cultures.

• In some cultures, even after death, it is believed that our spirit remains alive.
• The majority of people in the world believe that there is an “after-world”
• Lots of movies, such as Swinging Spirits, exist.

Philosophical Idea

• Idea with a long history (as far back as Plato), most prominently advanced as a theory by the philosopher René Descartes (1641)
• Descartes’ thought experiment: what can we know for sure? Nothing … except the fact that we think, and that if we believe, we must exist

Philosophers think that there is no way to be sure whether we are alive or not. And the only thing you can realize is that only I can be conscious.

Cogito Ergo Sum: “I think therefore I am”

It follows from this (according to Descartes) that minds and bodies must be completely different kinds of things.

However, most psychologists believe that dualism is not true.

Physiologist idea

They believe in Francis Crick’s idea:

We call it an “astonishing” or a hypnosis because most people don’t believe it’s true.