PHILOSOPHY 1000 JEFFREY M WOOD
THE MIND-BODY
PROBLEM
A PHILOSOPHICAL EXAMINATION
Ryan Wiechman
4/12/2012
It begins with one simple statement, “I think therefore I am” made by the French
philosopher Rene Descartes in the early seventeenth century. Through pure reason alone
Descartes was trying to discover what could be truly known to man. With this idea he could
reason that the “I” or the “self” can exist only if it is a thinking thing. Descartes reasoned that man
is a thinking thing, and therefore he exists. Philosophers since the time of Plato have been trying
to understand the relation of the “I” in its relation to the physical self. Plato deducted that the
body was the physical manifestation of the greater form, the “self”. Theologians throughout
history have made claims that man is more than just a body, but that his body houses his true self
or “spirit”.
This problem of separation of the mind or spirit and the physical body is termed in
philosophy as the “mind-body problem” , and it presents quite a conundrum when one begins
asking the questions such as… If the spirit or soul truly exists separate from the body then what is it
made of? Critics of Descartes dualism, the belief that the mind and body are two separate entities,
one matter and one non-matter, acting as one, ask how the interaction occurs between the mind
and the body? Modern philosophers have made similar arguments for and against this mind body
problem. Jerry A. Fodor, a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University stated in an essay
concerning the mind-body problem that “The chief drawback of dualism is its failure to account
adequately for mental causation. If the mind is nonphysical, it has no position in physical space.
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How, then, can a mental cause give rise to a behavioral effect that has a position in space? To put
it another way, how can the nonphysical give rise to the physical without violating the laws of the
conservation of mass, of energy and of momentum?” (Fodor, 1981, p. 1) In fact, many modern
day scientists have been conducting different experiments into the discovery of a solution to the
mind-body problem.
There are two primary sides to consider when analyzing this problem. One has already
been mentioned which is known as a dualist argument. Dualism is the belief that there are two
components to human existence. One is the body which is made up of a physical substance
known as matter. It has actual mass and can be substantiated through weights and measurements.
The other is the mind, a complex idea that can neither be substantiated by any means known to
the scientific world, nor can its very existence be quantified by any series of calculations ever
produced. This is not to say that scientists, philosophers, and theologians all haven’t produced
different theories as to the substance of the mind. In fact, there have been all kinds of interesting
b observations concerning the mind or soul. One example of these were observations made by
Dr. Duncan MacDougall. Dr. MacDougall conducted experiments on dying patients in order to
prove that the human soul was made of matter and therefore had actual weight. Through his
research he concluded that the human soul weighs 21 grams. (Times, 1907)
Dr. MacDougall’s research has been highly criticized however, and most of the scientific
community have regarded any of these findings as suspicious and superstitious. However unlikely
the evidence may prove to be in favor of the existence of a human soul, billions of people across
the world and throughout the generations of time have maintained the existence of their essence is
an internal spirit.
The other side of the mind-body problem is the monist argument. Monism is the belief
that the mind and the body are one in the same substance, and that there is no distinction between
the two. One of the most recognized monistic theory is atomism. Mostly attributed to the ancient
Grecian philosopher Democritus, atomism states that all matter is made up of tiny “uncuttable”
particles known as “atoms”. If the human body has mass then it is logical to say that it is matter,
and if it is made up of matter then all that is part of the body is the matter that it is made of. This
would make no distinction between the mind and the body. This would also confound many
other theories such as free will, afterlife, ghosts, and other supernatural concepts. Monist
philosophers are primarily determinists, ascribing every decision and action that people make to a
genetic or hereditary preclusion. Man makes a choice thinking he is employing his free will,
however what he doesn’t take into account is his conditioning, his upbringing, his genetics, or how
this idea has even been presented to him. Psychologists and scientists agree that the control of
decision making is big business especially in a capitalistic economy. If it wasn’t proven that
decision making could be manipulated through sound and color then advertisers should be out of
a job.
It would seem that modern science has mainly accepted a monist approach to the mindbody problem. Research and development of different drugs to separate sensations registered in
the brain such as pain and discomfort are a billion dollar industry. Doctors and Physicians are
able to chemically turn off man’s sensory experience during surgery, or times of great trauma.
Psychiatrists are constantly prescribing different medications to alleviate symptoms of depression
and stress. In fact, in the book the Grand Design Prof. Stephen Hawking, speaking of philosophy,
says “Traditionally these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not
kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics.” (Milodinow, 2010, p. 5)
Perhaps it could be said that philosophy is not dead, but that there isn’t enough money in it
to be heard anymore. A more philosophical-scientific argument is being researched by a group
known as the “Nour Foundation”. Researchers at the Nour Foundation have been looking into
the discoveries that have been made concerning what happens to human existence at the time of
death. There have been great improvements in the last sixty years on the development of
instruments to measure brain function at the point of death. Studies have concluded that contrary
to what we have accepted as a moment of death, there is actually an entire process of death. There
is evidence of brain function even after a patient has suffered cardiac arrest. (Foundation, 2012) In
the 1600’s Rene Descartes was conducting experiments in animal dissection in order to study the
pineal gland. This is a gland located in the brain that Descartes believed an “intermingling of mind
and body” took place. (Descartes, p. 192) Now, four hundred years later modern science is still
investigating whether or not there is any proof of this distinction between mind and body, and
where or how it takes place.
These are a few of the different arguments that make up the mind-body problem. Will
science ever be able to explain why mankind seems to have an “innate” belief in a supernatural
spirit? Will there ever be enough evidence to support the existence of such a thing as a soul?
What is the connection that modern science has been able to sever when it comes to pain relief?
If a human is just a series of neuron connections and electrical impulses then how can one explain
things like past life regression and out of body experience? Perhaps one day science will discover
a way to prove what philosophers have been saying for thousands of years, but to say that
philosophy is dead is to say that the human race has solved these mysteries, and as we can see, we
have only just begun.
Descartes, R. (n.d.). Meditation IV in Philosophical Works vol. 1.
Fodor, J. A. (1981). The Mind-Body Problem. Scientific American, Inc.
Foundation, T. N. (2012). The Human Consciousness Project.
Milodinow, S. H. (2010). The Grand Design. Bantam Books.
Times, N. Y. (1907, March 11). The Soul Has Weight. p. 1.
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