After reading Chapter 4 and watching the video below on the mind-body problem, do the following:

this discussion post has 2 parts

I`ll post the second part, which is replying to two students after you sent me the first part.1st part (300-400 words) second part(at least 100 words each student)

• explain your understanding of the mind-body problem
• explain which view of the mind most agrees with your understanding of ‘mind.’ Are you a dualist? A materialist? Explain why; defend your position with reasons. In your response, make sure to explain the view you most agree with; in other words, if you say you agree with dualism, explain what the dualist view is, as well as why you agree with that view. Your response must make specific reference to the video as well as to one of the assigned readings/sections from Chapter 4 in our text.

Helpful hint: Often in this forum, students say things like ‘I am a dualist because I think the mind and body are connected’ or ‘I am a dualist because I think the mind and body work together.’ But, the mind and body ARE connected; they DO work together; we know this! Our species would not have survived if these did not work together. It is a fact that the mind and body affect each other and work together; these are not matters of debate. Also, these are not even matters that require experts or scientists for verification; each of us can test these out and verify their veracity. If I think of something terrifying, my body will react; if I stab my finger with a needle, my mind tells me I am in pain ?. There is no question that the mind and body affect each other. So, a dualist is NOT a person who thinks the mind and body work together or are connected.

Make sure to follow the instructions given in Unit 1 in the Discussion Forums: Protocol and Grading Criteria folder for making specific references to texts, videos, and podcasts; posts that do not make references according to these instructions will not receive full credit.

How to make specific references to texts and videos:

Many of the threads ask for specific references to the text, videos, or podcasts, and sometimes students seem not to understand what is meant by ‘specific reference.’ A specific reference to the text should give the name of the reading and the author, if applicable, and the page number (for example, if you refer to a reading within our text not by the author of the text but by another writer included in our text, give the name of the author, the title of the reading, and the page number; if you refer to part of the text written by the textbook author, give the page number). When providing a specific reference, you may quote or paraphrase, but your reference should be thorough (a complete idea) and specific. A specific reference to a video should give the timestamp; to see the timestamp, simply look at the progress bar for the video and give the time during the video at which the point you want to reference occurs, e.g. 1:34. You should make podcast references with the time stamp also.

Here are some examples:

In the reading “On the Pragmatic Theory” by William James, James says blah blah blah on p. 264.

In the video, the narrator says that Plato’s idea of the soul is blah blah blah [2:56].

In the podcast, Sam Harris says blah blah blah [4:34].

Sometimes, students do not answer all the questions in a forum thread, but for full credit, you should thoroughly answer all questions.

• For the possibility of full credit, you should have substantial responses for all original discussion threads. To meet the criterion of being substantial, your posts should thoroughly respond to the prompt by answering all questions with reasons, examples, and detailed explanations for your position(s).
• In addition to answering all original threads, you must respond to at least 2 posts in each thread. Your responses should be thorough and substantial (for example, posts that essentially express agreement or disagreement with others’ posts are not thorough and substantial); you should discuss, react to, question, and challenge what others have said.
• When you respond to others, make sure to use their name (e.g. ‘Julie, I agree with your point that blah blah blah because…’). When you don’t use the person’s name, nobody, including the person to whom you are responding, knows whom you are speaking to. Also, directly quoting the specific point you are addressing helps others understand your point(s).
• Each forum thread has a due date, and after that due date passes, posts in that thread will not be accepted; the reason for this is not to punish students, but because posting after a thread closes would be akin to walking into an empty classroom and speaking to the walls: once a thread ends, there is nobody to talk to. So pay careful attention to the due dates for each thread. These can be found in the course schedule

Works Linked/Cited:

“Where Does Your Mind Reside?: Crash Course Philosophy #22.” YouTube, uploaded by Crash Course, 1 Aug. 2016. Where Does Your Mind Reside?: Crash Course Philosophy #22 – YouTube. Accessed 19 Aug. 2020.

Part 2: Please reply to each student according to instructions

Benjamin

I believe that I am a dualist because I thinkn that the mind and the body are connected because of what the professor stated. I know that is not what dualism is but yes I believe that the mind is ‘seperate’ from the body because I believe in people having souls. If someone dies and then they have everything that they once had in their body biologically then why is it that we cannott revive someone from the dead after a certain period of time. Because if the body were to be connected to the ‘mind’ in the sense that one directly impacts the other in every way then why is it that we can resist temptation? Let’s say your body is tired and exhausted and your body is in the concentration camps under Hitler. If your body and mind were in perfect unity in the sense that if the body dies then the ‘mind’ wouldn’t be able to persevere and think positively in such horrendous physical conditions. The ‘mind’ would basically be a slave to the body and vise versa. I tried explaining my point as well as I could but this is a hard and exiting topic to convey! I feel like there is an argument that I am missing but I cannot seem to pinpoint what that is. Give me some suggestions on how to improve mine!! :))). Causal interactionism incorporated in the book “Introducing Philosophy: a book with integrated readings”, states that Physical Events can cause mental events and vise versa (Robert Ch.4). I agree with that statement but the fact that the mind can resist the impulses and the impacts of the body on the mind and resist shows how there is more to the mind than just it being connected to the body and only the body and not something more.

Annie

To preface this discussion, the mind-body problem is the debate concerning the relationship between the mind and body, or according to Descartes, the mental substance versus the physical substances. My understanding is that the mind is oil and the body is water. They both can co-exist but are unable to mix since they are completely different molecules.

With my knowledge of the human anatomy, I lean towards the dualist view more with the belief that human beings do not function in such a “one and the same” philosophy yet two separate phenomenons. In a misconstrued way, I relate this view to the concept of attraction. Physical attraction is not the same as emotional and mental attraction which, in my opinion, can either strengthen or weaken physical attraction. For instance, if you were to see an attractive person, this attraction is purely, and respectively, all physical substances. However, once there is conversation and an opportunity to know the person’s mental substances (the way they socially maneuver and intellectually think), it may change your perception of this attraction to either more or less. In specific reference to the crash course philosophy video, “the minds are separate” which cannot be reduced to physical stuff, such as intelligence and identity. In this case, the body and the mind are two different substances that co-exist and works in conjunction with each other.

“Where Does Your Mind Reside?: Crash Course Philosophy #22.” YouTube, uploaded by Crash Course, 1 Aug. 2016. Where Does Your Mind Reside?: Crash Course Philosophy #22 – YouTube. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.