Dualism vs Materialism

This study explores the debate between dualism and materialism, two philosophical ideologies that discuss the existence of the mind and body. It explains the concepts of both perspectives and presents arguments for their differences. The study concludes by choosing a perspective based on their strengths and weaknesses.

DUALISM VS MATERIALISM
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This study has been focused on the debate regarding the philosophical ideologies namely
dualism and materialism that deals with our perspectives towards our body and mind. For that
reason, the concepts of both the philosophical perspectives have been explained along with an
argumentative illustration of their differences. Moreover, one perspective has been chosen after
mentioning strengths and weaknesses of both the perspectives.
Dualism refers to the philosophical perspective which supports the independent existence of
human mind. According to Robinson (2018), human brain and human mind are two separate
entities in dualistic philosophy. In addition, dualists give more importance to the existence of
human mind than to the existence of human body because they think that human mind has some
eternal attribute unlike human body. So, it can be said that in dualism, a spiritual dimension has
been imposed upon the fabric of human existence. In order to reduce the confusion between the
functioning of the brain and the mind, dualists state that human brain is the medium for human
mind to manifest its functions.
The idea of materialism can be seen as a direct alternative to the idea of dualism in the field of
philosophy. This is so because; materialism only supports the existence of human body.
According to Kim (2013), materialists believe that everything has been made out of physical
materials in the universe. However they do believe in the existence of human mind but they
supports the fact that human mind and human brain is the same thing and they cannot have
independent existence. This perspective gives the status of monism to materialism because they
believe in the existence of the ‘one’ matter to be the only fundamental natural substance.
As per the above mentioned discussion, it has been clear that dualism and materialism hold two
totally opposite thoughts about human existence. The main difference lies in the fact that
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materialism does not believe in anything non-physical while on the other hand, dualism
advocates for the eternal and undying human soul. Apparently materialism seems to be more
logical because their belief can be proven scientifically. On the contrary, the independent
existence of the spiritual human mind has not been scientifically proven yet. This is so because
dualists believe in an unexplainable divine energy that directs our actions and our lives
(Berhouma, 2013). However, on the other hand, for materialists, human life is nothing but the
series of experiences stored in human brain.
They also believe in some sort of energy that regulates human lives (Galloway, 2013). However,
they think that human brain contains certain chemicals that release the energy or the driving
force that controls out lives. As an outcome of the belief system of dualism, dualists believe in
the immortal existence of human soul. On the contrary, materialism holds the thought that human
existence ends with the end or destruction of human body. So, it can be opined that dualism talks
about the theory of the mind while materialism talks about the theory of the body.
Both these philosophical perspectives have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example,
dualism can be rationally explained if someone believes in the existence of the supernatural.
Otherwise, it is difficult for people to believe in the notion of dualism. According to Mudrik and
Maoz (2014), the properties of the physical and the mental realm are different. Hence, the
existence of psychology has to be denied if someone does not believe in dualism. This is so
because psychology deals with the human mind by giving it a separate value. Thus, the strength
of dualism lies on the fact that it advocates the idea that human mind lets us decide or believe in
a certain thing. On the other hand, it has not been proven that these human attributes can be
generated from the chemical released from human brain. For example, brain waves cannot tell
what an individual is thinking unless that person confesses that to others. So, there are some
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unexplainable functions of human mind that cannot be justified only by accepting the existence
of human brain.
However, it is also true that it cannot be denied that human brain and mind work together in
order to function. So, there must be an unreachable connection between these two properties of
human beings. In that case, the arguments for the existence of any supernatural qualities of
human mind become vague. This is so because if human mind is immortal and has an
independent existence then it can be assumed that human mind can function on its own without
relying on human brain to function. For example, if someone goes through any kind of physical
trauma then naturally the brain of that person gets affected. As an outcome, mind of that
particular person also gets affected and thus the mind loses its previous functioning force as well
(All about Philosophy, 2019). Thus, the idea of the existence of human mind cannot be given an
independent status because it would be difficult to prove the perspective then.
Unlike this philosophical perspective, materialism seems to be more rational and also more
scientific. According to scientific researches, human beings have been evolved from only
physical materials through a physical process. So, apparently there is no space for any spiritual
soul in the physical realm that is the source of each and every life in the world. On the other
hand, the strength of materialism lies on the fact that its ideas can be explained and thus there are
no chances of finding any loopholes in the theory of body (Anderson and Perrin, 2015).
However, it is also true that science has not been successful in proving the nonexistence of an
independent human mind either. Apart from that, the subjective functioning of human
consciousness cannot be fully explained by supporting the existence of only matters in the world.
Thus, new scientific research has been focusing on exploring anti-matters or dark-matters that
cannot be explained with the idea of materialism at all (Sheldrake, 2013). So, prefer to pick the
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side of dualism because I believe that not everything can be scientifically explained but that does
not make them nonexistent.
So, in this study, the ideas of dualism and materialism have been explored. After discussing the
arguments for and against both these ideas, I chose dualism because it gives me a larger sense of
self that the materialist perspective is unable to give.
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Reference list
All about Philosophy 2019, Strengths and Weaknesses Of Dualism, Available at:
https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-dualism-faq.htm [Accessed
on: 3/4/2019]
Anderson, K. and Perrin, C., 2015. New materialism and the stuff of humanism. Australian
Humanities Review, 58(3), pp.1-15.
Berhouma, M., 2013. Beyond the pineal gland assumption: a neuroanatomical appraisal of
dualism in Descartes’ philosophy. Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 115(9), pp.1661-1670.
Galloway, A., 2013. The poverty of philosophy: Realism and post-fordism. Critical
Inquiry, 39(2), pp.347-366.
Kim, J., 2013. The myth of nonreductive materialism. The American Philosophical Association
Centennial Series, 9(1), pp.641-658.
Mudrik, L. and Maoz, U., 2014. “Me & My Brain”: Exposing Neuroscience's Closet
Dualism. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27(2), pp.211-221.
Robinson, W.S., 2018. Dualism. In The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness 12(1), pp.51-63.
Sheldrake, R., 2013. Setting science free from materialism. Explore, 9(4), pp.211-218.
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