Essay Sample on Dualism, Identity Theory, and Functionalism

Introduction

The body and mind problem and functionalism have been examined through both analytic and linguistic lanes in philosophical and artificial intelligence debates. Most analytic inferences have focused on interpreting the relationship between body and mind regarding connected behaviors, mental states, and the existence of something beyond the two. This research critiques Cartesian dualism, identity, and functionalism theory with the aim of establishing which among the three arguments best explains the relationship between the body and mind.

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Cartesian Dualism

According to Descartes, human beings consisted of two distinct substances that could not exist in unity. The mind formed the immaterial and un-extended but thinking substance. The body, on the other hand, formed extended material but unthinking substance. The body was also subject to mechanical laws while the mind was not (Descartes, n.d.). It is also argued that anything happening to an individual's consciousness is dependent on what happens to their bodies. For example, "if one was eating chocolate and their brains were opened up, then the taste of the chocolate will not be observed in the brain. Only neurological functions will be seen", ("The Mind-Body Problem" n.d.). Therefore it is impossible to get into the mind of the person and observe their experiences of tasting chocolate. Therefore, the experiences of an individual and other mental states are more than physical. There is, therefore, more than the body humming to the nervous system ("The Mind-Body Problem" n.d.). Therefore individuals are made of a complex organism which is the body and the soul (mental state).

Despite being two distinct substances, Descartes believes that the mind and body interact due to memory and free initiative. However, Descartes fails to explain how the mind and body are united explicitly. Cartesian dualism is also critiqued by materialism ("The Mind-Body Problem" n.d.). Materialism is well explained through behaviorism. According to behaviorism, an individual mind is reducible to their behavior. And being part of the body's behavior, the mind is seen as an extreme act which can be observed. For example, a person's thoughts are not considered as an inner voice that brings the words that are spoken and written. According to behaviorism ability to speak and write is what provokes the thoughts. Therefore, the mental state is ascribed to an individual. However, despite the conformity of body actions to behaviorism, the questions remains whether the actions of the body are automation or they have a mind. The physical state can be analyzed and broken down, yet the taste of chocolate in the rain cannot be physically observed meaning that there is a possibility that the feelings of an individual may not be actual physical processes occurring in the brain.

Identity Theory

The identity theory is based on the fact that the state and processes of the brain are identical to the states and processes of the mind; however, it does not suppose that the two are similar. For example, it can be said that a person has "a good mind" or has "a good brain"; however, it is not correct to tell the person's mind weighs ten Kilograms.

Cartesian dualism and the identity theory agree that the mental state is made up of neuro-physical processes, and an individual's imagination is made up of their brain's processing functions. Additionally, any change in the physical being will result in a change in the brain functions. Therefore, identity theory believes that an individual's capability and principal characteristics of their personal identity largely determines their self-awareness and character dispositions. Also, identity theory agrees that mental states such as confidence, despair or hope do not just describe an individual's feeling but show the particular behavior. However, the identity theory focuses on the explanation of individual role related behavior. The brain is, therefore, is seen as an entity that is separate from sensations. However, the perceptions of the latter are part of a process that reports to the brain. Sensations according to the identity theory can be translated to statements of the brain; however, they do not conform to descriptive physical nature (Smart, 1959). For example, Smart states that Nations are nothing, "over and above citizens, nor this does not prevent the logic of a nation from being completely different from that of citizens nor does it ensure the transferability of nations statements into citizen statements," (Smart, 1959). The matter between the mind and body according to the identity theory is based on distinctiveness between meaning and reference.

Identity theorists maintain that in brain state type there is particular brain state type and every token of the mental type conforms to the specific brain type. However, psychological and physical states can only be said to be identical if they meet the principle of co-existence- being in the same place at the same time. There is limited research justifying the same time occurrence of physical and mental brain functions. Therefore, there is no justification of saying that "at in some point of the body, mental events occur." The theory also fails to justify why analytic events are un-located while the neural events are located.

Functionalism

The identity theory interprets casual efficiency by stating that the casual role of mental activity is derived from physical substrates. Functionalism, on the other hand, combines both identity theory concept of casual phenomena and behaviorism. Functionalism coincides with the idea of computing. The turing test for understanding Chinese depicts that when one is ignorant of a language, there is no way that they cud understand the language as they are unable to describe the meaning of the symbols. However, they can manipulate the symbols without attaching any meaning to them (Searle, 1990). Therefore just like computational processes, the mind realizes ideas or perceptions in multiple frameworks (multiple realizability). The difference between the human mind and the computers is that the computers are mechanical robots programmed to do as they are told while man has free will. But just like the computer and the hardware, the mind bears a relation to the material embodiments (body). Functionalism theory, therefore, disagrees with the dualism concept that the mind is an immaterial substance that is casually related to the body. The mind is thus viewed as a material substance but on a "higher level." The processes in the brain, in turn, are like hardware processes of a computer. They are capable of realizing thoughts, computations, and feelings but in a potentially endless array of devices or organisms. However, the functional properties of a human organ are abstract. For example, despite the eye being a material object, its property is not a low-level property. The eye properties possess the virtue of fulfilling a particular task (the casual role of visual perception). Functionalists also do not deny or justify the existence of qualia- the qualitative features that are a constructive part of the mental state.

Despite its short-cummings functionalism theory offers the best mind-body explanation when compared to both identity and Cartesian dualism. Functionalism can comprehensively explain the causal efficiency of an individual's mental state as long as the physical phenomena domain is causally closed- the mental states are realized or determined by the material systems. Also, the anti-reductionistic nature (it is impossible to reduce mental states to physical properties) of functionalism theory helps in addressing the problem of violating Leibniz's law by identity theory. Despite conformity with the technical advancements in artificial intelligence, functionalism also interprets the development in cognitive psychology and linguistics. The movie Inside Out helps in understanding functionalism theory. The mind is depicted to compose different emotional parts (sadness, disgust, anger, fear, and joy), that work independently to help a young girl adapt to a new city life (Docter & Del Carmen, 2015). Despite the different tasks the emotions are closer and related, and in the absence of one emotion, the overall body function is affected. Therefore, the emotions are dependent on to serve their respective purposes for the body to continue operating. Thus, the mind is depicted as a higher level material substance with an array of functions.

References

"The Mind-Body Problem," (n.d.).

Descartes, R., (n.d.). "From Meditations II and VI and Reply to objections II."

Docter, P., & Del Carmen, R., (2015). Inside Out. Netflix. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80030684 [Accessed December 16th, 2018]

Searle, J. R. (1990). Is the brain's mind a computer program? Scientific American, 262(1), 25-31.

Smart, J. J. (1959). Sensations and brain processes. The Philosophical Review, 68(2), 141-156.