Mind and Body issue

an essay on Descartes and Ryle.

 

 

Descartes vs. Ryle

Throughout history, numerous philosophers shifted their focus to particularly the sphere of the mind and body issue. Many contradictions erupted from the works of   a rationalist , Rene Descartes and an Empiricist, Gilbert Ryle. Both philosophers  primarily concentrate on the connection between the two mechanisms, but whether body and mind exist as two demobilized elements two theories need further discussion.

            Unsure of his own existence, Descartes uses  numerous strategies to discover the realm for  his identity.  In order to do so, a belief of absolute certainty must be found. . Through the information taken from the external sense, human mind organizes a judgment internally.  Due to the fact that such certainty is perceived strictly through  human senses , and senses  tend to deceive ; any knowledge gained from those sources may be false.

 In order to further illustrate the downfall of human sense , the dream argument serves as major contributor to the theory. During the dreaming state, one is not able to assert between the dream and reality, and therefore the possibility of dreaming at this moment is just as high as that of being alert. After abandoning any ideas that can be doubted, and categorizing them in order to establish pure knowledge, Descartes finds a resolution for his doubts of existence.

         

Cogito Ergo Sum, in Latin “I think, therefore I exist”,  a statement which  proves Descartes his entity.  Descartes assembles that thought exists, and the fact that  thought is inseparable from him, it establishes him as a thinking thing. Therefore, Descartes constitutes that if he experiences a thought of a doubt, then something or someone must be doing the doubting, therefore the very thought of doubt  establishes his existence. This leads to  the conclusion that mind is the essence of a human, since senses taken from the bodies  misguide  our perceptions.

Descartes asserts that body follows the laws of physics and  operates  like a machine. It strictly holds the  material properties of extension and motion. .  On the contrary, the mind or soul, identifies  as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and doesn’t fall under the law of physics . Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body. Such illustration of dualism  proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind.

Considering the idea that humans are imperfect creatures, and are capable of making  mistakes , Descartes states that a perfect human must have created all of the humans. He asserts such theory by addressing the fact that since he is a thinking thing, his mind created an idea of perfect human being, or God. Although, since his sense are capable of deception and with this establish his imperfection, the idea of perfection, must have been established through some other source beyond humanity. Descartes concludes that God  existence is filtered as the source to his idea of perfection.

 

 

With this in mind, Descartes proposes that despite their separate existing environments, non physical  mind manipulates the action of the physical body.

Supporter of Physicalism, Gilbert Ryle  believes that humans may best be described as  complicated machines, consisting of strictly brain, central nervous system, and other human organs. . Ryle rejects the existence of  mind or soul, suggesting that humans consist of  physical mechanisms, or  bodies.  Unlike Dualism , where a person is comprised of two different substances body and mind, Physicalism asserts that since  body has physical matter it appears as the  only existent part of a human.

 In Physicalism, body and mind are contrived into one, the material object. An identification of the object relies on its components , where in rationalism the identification is created beyond physical aspects. Therefore since mind, lacks any physical ingredients that may be absorbed through human senses , its incapable of existing.

Unless an object is physically present, and may be experienced through the five human perceptions, its existence appears undiscovered. In addition, Ryle asserted  that the nature of one’s motives may be  defined through that person's dispositions to act in specific  positions. He evaluated  that the workings of the mind  do not appear  distinct from the actions of the human’s  body. Mental vocabulary symbolizes simply a diverse way of identifying action. With such observation, Ryle rejects the original theory, while adopting the idea of body and mind as a whole.

           

 

 

While both  of the philosophers , addressed their points effectively and evaluated their individual  theories through numerous assertions and facts, the official doctrine introduced through Descartes’ ideas lacks external sources. While writing his analysis,

his observation primarily evolves around his own  existence. The theory appears controversial  when applied to other individuals. The idea of perfection and therefore God  would vanish, due to the fact that each individual varies in their own  evaluation of such perfection. Therefore, if God vanished, all of the “imperfect” human beings which were created  through him would vanish as well.  

Such elimination leaves off  Gilbert  Ryle as the realistic and rational thinker. His theory accounts for strictly the factual knowledge and physical aspects of the object. Ryle rejects mind’s existence due to the pure fact that it is incapable of being weighed through the law of physics. Unless his audience is able to show  the human  mind in form matter and which takes up space, Descartes theory remains a lie.  Ryle’s theory of body and mind combine into one, may best be interpreted through  natural mechanical operations of the body. As long as the  human mechanism works effectively throughout the body, meaning the individual is in the healthy state of being, his mind operates well. Although once the bodily mechanism shuts down, (in death), the mind follows its route. With this, Ryle leaves off any un-factual information and qualifies Descartes theory as a fiction.

 

           

 

Reviews

[Kyle T.]

You managed to sum up Descartes' Reflections in a clear manner, totally nailed it.
Ryle all the way for the question of existence. There is no way that Descartes is allowed to say what is perfect and what isn't. He is too ingrained in his own religious background to even see this fallacy, and you illustrated that point with excellence.
I like.