Introduction:
The theory of the separation of the mind and body trace back to the ancient Greeks, Plato as most prominent. It was not until the 17th century, when first described in detail the mind-body relationship. René Descartes in his book The Homine ("Man") in 1633, he describes consciousness, suggests that the human is of two substances. The thinking substance (res Cogitans, consciousness) are spatially unextended and private. The extended substance (res extensa, body) being extended in space. The two are completely different thus justifies Descartes afterlife, since the two are different is there no reason to believe that the soul dies when the body dies. This is the foundation of dualism, thus creating the modern psychophysical problem
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The modern term of consciousness generally is used to refer an individual’s awareness of his or her own thoughts, including sensations, feelings and memories. However, if you focus your thoughts on your consciousness, you soon become aware that your conscious experience are constantly changing. While reading this essay, for example, you may be reminded of experiences or present discomforts that interrupts your concentration; plans for the future will spontaneously pop to mind. Thinking about your conscious experiences makes you realize just how much you thoughts are changing, and yet they seem to come together. Therefore, consciousness affect human nature and vice versa. This makes the concept of consciousness important to elucidate if to have an understanding of human nature. To get a theoretical understanding of this subject, this essay will illuminate James Williams and Sigmund Freud's theories on drives, instincts and consciousness and its influence on human nature. In addition, the essay will briefly reference to other theorist regarding it relevant to this …show more content…
To illustrate this theory, James used the example of seeing a bear, then running away. It is not the case that you see the bear and feel afraid and then run away. What is really happening is that you see the bear and run away, and the conscious feeling fear is caused by the action of running. In this sense, the theory is likened to the “fight-or-flight” reaction, in which the bodily sensations prepare a person to react based on the brain’s interpretation of the event and the physiological events. This contradicts what people might think, but James’s view was that the mind’s perception of the physical effects of running by rapid breathing, increased heartbeat and perspiring heavily is translated into the emotion of fear. Another example, according to James’s theory, would be that you feel happy because you are conscious that you are smiling. It is not that you feel happy first, and then smile (About
CHIDIEBUBE OPARA PHIL 1301 PROF BROWN July 10, 2017 PRINCESS ELISABETH First, in my essay about what Princess Elisabeth was asking Descartes to clarify was about the meditation. This meditation was to give an expression of how the mind and the body interact to one another. Next, In Descartes response to Princess Elisabeth, he claims that the mind and the body are the two different important substances in our human beings.
Therefore, Descartes argues that the mind and the body must be two logically distinct
Conclusion: The mind is substantively different from the body and indeed matter in general. Because in this conception the mind is substantively distinct from the body it becomes plausible for us to doubt the intuitive connection between mind and body. Indeed there are many aspects of the external world that do not appear to have minds and yet appear none the less real in spite of this for example mountains, sticks or lamps, given this we can begin to rationalize that perhaps minds can exist without bodies, and we only lack the capacity to perceive them.
The computational representational theory of the mind (CRUM) is a theory devised to model the complexities of the human mind in cognitive science. Human thought processes have been simplified by thinking about abstract thought processes in terms of concrete computational procedures (Thagard, 11). CRUM theory surmises that thinking is the result of the application of operations to mental representations (Thagard, 11). Recent literature suggests our emotions are intrinsically tied to cognitive processes (Dalgleish and Power, 1999). Emotions are influential factors that affect mental representations such as concepts, analogies and imagery in cognitive science.
Fear. You hear it all the time. And we can experience the sudden emotion in our daily lives. Any time of day there can be Fear: when watching a scary movie, getting lost in an amusement park, or being alone in the dark. But in this novel, fear takes on a whole other meaning.
Seen in the eyes of many as a joke or more than often confused with fear due to it’s many similar characteristics. In his article called, “ Searching the Brain for the Roots of Fear”, published in January 2012 on The New York Times, Joseph LeDoux, gives his opinion about anxiety to those who don’t know anything about it. He proves that anxiety occurs when we over anticipate things, causing fear within ourselves. Throughout his article he provides multiple scenarios and situations showing his audience how anxiety works, and how it differentiates from fear. Fear is a feeling we all have felt at one moment in our lives.
What is the Mind? Introduction To try and explore the ‘mind’ it is necessary to examine if the mind and the brain are separate or if the mind and body are distinct from one another? Is the mind and body separate substance or elements of the same substance? Is consciousness the result of the mechanisms of the brain, wholly separate from the brain or inextricably linked?
Various philosophers and scientists have inquired about the mind and body issue for a long time. The mind-body philosophies try to explain the way a person’s mental state and processes are linked to the physical state. The core of the mind and body is that individuals have a biased experience of an inner life that appears detached from the physical world. Although they are separated, they need to work together in some way. Individuals may appear to have physical properties and mental properties.
In a world where the boundaries between real and un-real are often blurred we find that our realities often imitates the un-real more than the real. We are faced with a society where we are more in tune with the hyper real world. Hyper reality is defined as an inability off our consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulated reality, (Oxford dictionary, 2014) The concept of Hyperreality was defined by French sociologist Jean Baudrillard in his work Simulacra and Simulation, where he explored the relationship between Reality, Symbols and Society. Baudrillard states in his work that society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs and that human experience is a simulation of reality.
As well as Freud’s view on what a dreams function could be. Lastly I will discuss how dreams sooth the soul before death. Flanagan’s reason for believing that consciousness is an adaptation stems from various questions in his book he starts my saying “what functions does consciousness serve” (Flanagan,
To begin with, Dualism is the philosophical doctrine, first introduced by Rene Descartes, that the Mind and Body are two distinct separate entities. Rene Descartes believed that the Mind and Body were separate entities that were not only independent from one another, but that both were composed of dissimilar elements. Descartes explains that the body, and all its physiological attributes, are composed of “Physical” matter, and as such, dwells in the material realm and abides the laws of Physics or the laws of nature. Conversely, the Mind and all its attributes, thoughts, emotions and qualia, are composed of “Spiritual” matter, and as such, dwells in the immaterial realm and does not abide to the laws of physics or nature.
They say that mental processes are the same thing as brain processes. This gives us a better explanatory role with causation regarding mental states. According to the identity theory, the “Mind” and the “Brain” refer to one object (the physical brain). (Anthony Oyowe, personal
These feelings of danger can stem from feelings of unpredictability and
In his philosophical thesis, of the ‘Mind-Body dualism’ Rene Descartes argues that the mind and the body are really distinct, one of the most deepest and long lasting legacies. Perhaps the strongest argument that Descartes gives for his claim is that the non extended thinking thing like the Mind cannot exist without the extended non thinking thing like the Body. Since they both are substances, and are completely different from each other. This paper will present his thesis in detail and also how his claim is critiqued by two of his successors concluding with a personal stand.
Many theories of group counselling have borrowed ideas and approaches from psychoanalysis. The primary aim of the analytic process is reorganize the client’s personality and character structure. This aim is attained by making unconscious conflicts conscious and analysing them. Wolf (1963, 1975) developed group applications of fundamental psychoanalytic approaches such as working with transference, free association, dreams, and the historical factors of existing behaviour. The group leader relates understanding to the family-like relations that emerge among the members and between the members and the therapist.