Mind, Body and Soul

Philosophy- Body and Soul

Plato:
- dualist
- said “the body is the source of endless troubles”
- soul was capable of understanding the world of the forms but the body is Not
- believed the soul exists before and after death
- he believed the soul was the most important part of a person
- he suggests death is like “moving from one room to another”
- says the soul has three aspects reason, spirit and appetite spirit being the most important
- three parts are not in harmony e.g chariot driver example
- argued for the existence of life after death with four arguments (opposites, knowledge and recollection, simplicity the soul is indestructible because it is immaterial and therefore must survive death), linguistic argument (when we say I we refer to a deeper meaning separate from the body)

Criticisms of Plato

Brian Davis’ Challenge:
-Not everything has an opposite
-The Linguistic Argument only shows that I am a thing distinct from my body
-He challenges Plato’s conception of the self as an un extended thing that does not pass out of existence, because it cannot be split or broken ( Simple) , on the grounds that it is a very weak argument.
Bernard Williams:
-Identity comes from body/physical characteristics too and without our bodies we could not be identified
- Things we do to the body affect our mind e.g. drugs and mind appears to be dependent on the brain
-If mind is not linked to body we would not make things happen in the world (mind linked to physical activity)

Materialism- belief that only physical matter exists and therefore everything about a person’s identity is tied to the body which is especially true within society

Behaviourism- human thoughts are simply learned behaviours link to pavlov and albert and the rat we behave in response to a physical stimuli not because of a soul. Skinner argues that all mental events are just complex patterns of behaviour

Dawkins:
- believed in soul 2 rather than soul one
- humans are just vessels to pass on genes and therefore we have no souls or need for souls
-however he does acknowledge that there is something extra to humans that cannot simply be explained by the body but puts…