The Mind Body Problem: Examining Dualism and Parallelism Theories

This essay delves into the intricate mind-body problem, a fundamental topic in philosophy. It examines the historical roots of the debate, tracing back to Descartes and his dualistic view of the mind and body as separate entities. The essay explores the core arguments for and against dualism, including the concept of consciousness after death and the influence of mental states on physical health. It contrasts dualism with monism, which posits a single entity encompassing both the spiritual and physical realms. Furthermore, the essay presents and analyzes the metaphysical position of parallelism as a solution to the mind-body problem, arguing that the mind and body exist independently but in a coordinated manner. The essay also addresses criticisms of parallelism, such as the need for a 'prime mover,' and provides rebuttals. The essay concludes by emphasizing the relevance of parallelism in explaining psychological phenomena and disorders. Overall, the essay offers a comprehensive overview of the mind-body problem, providing insights into various philosophical perspectives and arguments.

Running head: MIND BODY PROBLEM
Mind Body Problem
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
The Mind Body Problem............................................................................................................2
Reasons Why Mind Body Problem is a Problem:......................................................................3
Dualism..................................................................................................................................4
Metaphysical Position Chosen: Parallelism...............................................................................4
Reference List:...........................................................................................................................8

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The Mind Body Problem
The mind body problem is the age-old topic of discussion of philosophy, which takes
the mind and body of the human form as two different entities and evaluates the effect that
the mind or the consciousness has on the physical form, which is the body. The question can
be traced back to Descartes who initially questioned the dual identities of the mind and the
body embodied in the human form quoting (Bunge 2014). The mind and body are taken as
the two different forms existing in two different realms or the planes of reality but are
interdependent. This gave the idea of the Dualism of the mind and bodies and there are
various arguments stating how the mind and the emotions control the physical effects on the
body. There are various arguments in favor of dualism of the mind and the body which
include; the consciousness of the mind after death, the effect of mental issues on the physical
body.
Dualism argues that the mind and body exist in two different forms but are
interdependent on each other (Phillips, Beretta and Whitaker 2014). The physical act as the
stimuli for the mental and mental is the controller for the physical. The concept of the two
forms existing simultaneously in the same body giving the humans the problems in the
identity and identifying their perspective according to the world
The other theory of the mind body problem is the Monism according to which the
mind and body are not two different entities but a single entity between the spiritual and the
physical realm (Radhakrishnan and Moore 2014). Monism argues that the physical form is
the embodiment of the spiritual existence and they are not two but the same entity. The
physical form is just the expressive form for the spiritual self.

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The mind body problem continues to be one of the important topics of discussion
because it asks the very basic but a very important question to answer the human existence,
the real identity of human being.
Reasons Why Mind Body Problem is a Problem:
One of the basic questions that arise out of this philosophical theory why is the mind
body problem at all a problem. The mind body problem is a question which when answered
will solve many philosophical, theological and medical questions. The mind body problem is
considered a problem because it seeks to explain the difference between the sheer physical
forms and the physical forms with response, which is life form (Popper 2013). In the world,
there is existence of both living and nonliving forms, like stones and animals. What makes
the human different is the ability to reason argues and justify. The consciousness of the
human form has an effect on the physical actions and why it happens is the main cause of the
issue of mind body problem. The effects of non-physical entities like the wants, desires acting
as the driving forces of the physical actions is the topic of argument in the mind body
problem (Chalmers 2014). The answers to age-old questions like the existence of soul and
god is one of the determinants of this problem.
According to philosophers, how a person should identify oneself is the question that is
the mind body problem. The mind has an impact on the physical self and a physical stimulus
has an effect on the mind but many things, which remain unanswered in the argument, are the
basis of the mind body problem. The mind has the tendency of self-preservation if it was the
brain only in the physical form, but there are sudden urges of jumping from high places by
some people, which go against the logical law. Any damage to the body is harm to the mental
form as well and it should be against the logic of the brain. There are certain phobias felt by
people, which have no sure origins like Agoraphobia, which is the fear of open spaces (Sawni

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and Breuner 2017). The mind and the body in unison is usually the identity of the person but
the philosophers argue that the body is just the machinery to carry out the deeds of the
consciousness. The soul of the mind should be identity of the person as it is what defines a
person according to his wants and desires. There is a major contradiction in the problem as
the mind can desire certain actions but the ultimately they might not commit it fearing
repercussions. Therefore, what can be considered as the identity the person willing to commit
the action or the person fearing repercussion and are they two different entities.
Dualism
Dualism is an ancient Greek concept which states that two forms of realities exist; the
material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual). In the philosophical argument dualism states
that the mind and body are two different entities which co-exist in the human form. Ancient
philosophers like Aristotle, Plato and earlier Sankhya and Yoga schools of philosophy, have
explained dualism (Mori 2016). Descartes, who tried to differentiate the consciousness and
self-awareness and the physical brain, first explained dualism in as the mind body problem.
The different dualisms exist like substance dualism, property dualism, predicate dualism and
epistemological dualism.
Metaphysical Position Chosen: Parallelism
a) In this paper, the solution to the mind body problem is considered as Parallelism
metaphysical concept. Parallelism is a concept of dualism philosophy, which states the mind
and body work in the different dimensions independently, and there are no causal
relationships between these two events of mental and physical events, though they may have
some interrelation, which is purely co-incidental (Barrera 2017). According to this theory, the
mind is considered the internal being of the entity with his own perspective, which controls
his emotions and thoughts. This theory defines body as the outward form or the physical self,

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which is controlled by the brain, and the stimulus it receive. The Parallelism theorists believe
in the existence of both body and mind in different planes of existence. This theory is based
on the concept that the co relation between the body and mind are not controlled but
incidental. It is like the working of two synchronized clocks working in unison across aeries
of events.
b) This is the best proposition to justify the mind body problem as it does not negate the
identity of the mind or body nor does it see it as the same. The parallel identity of the two
separate identity help in answering many questions, which are raised by the mind body
problem. The various situations which stand to prove the mind body problem can be
explained by the Parallelism theory. The theory explains the working of the mind and the
body as two different parts and their effect on the human physical form. The emotional state
controls the functions of the consciousness like desire, wants, and jealousy among others.
These emotional forms coexist with the physical form which is often affected by the physical
needs of the body like hunger pain and tiredness (Costa and Da Silva 2016). The
psychological and the physical state co-exist but they do not affect each other unless the
stimuli of one of them is overpowering.
c) The other metaphysical theories justifying the mind body problem are not as
dependable as parallelism because of the different flaws in the theories. The monism theories
completely negate the possibility of any difference of identities, which does not help in the
justification of a number of issues brought forward by the mind body problem (Ghiselin
2016). The different mysterious psychological disorders like, time-lapse disorientation and
the multiple identity disorders cannot be identified by monism theories and they lack the
resources to explain the mental issues. The other dualism theories have the issue of
interdependence of the mind and body on each other. The dualism theories like structuralism
and functionalism depend more on the complete separation of the mind and body as two

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entities. The parallelism is the only theoretical explanation, which gives individual identities
to the mind and the body. The time-to-time interaction between the mind and the body helps
in explaining the questions posed by monism. The other theories like materialism and
behaviorism eliminate the existence of the mental plane, which cannot explain the existence
of thoughts and emotions and other psychological pheromones like premonition (Heil 2013).
Thus, parallelism is a proper answer to all the mind body problem fallacy that occurs.
d) The parallelism faces a number of criticisms from a number of theorists because of
the difference of opinion of the parallelism. The parallelism issues that are pointed out as the
drawbacks by the theorists as the working of the parallelism metaphysics would not explain
the effects of the mind and the body in different planes without a prime mover. The existence
of a prime mover makes the theory more dependent on theology (Hübner 2016). The dual
plane operation of the mind and body created the issue of synchronization at the right
moment, why this synchronization is a great issue in explaining the truth of the parallelism
concept. Other philosophers argue that the dual identities do not exist but the mind and body
are the two parts of one complete form. These theories explain the mind body problem as
different aspects of the human self.
e) The argument against Parallelism stating that the Parallelism theory needs a prime
mover can be refuted simply by stating that mind and cognitive skills exist only after a true
human form is created. The mind or the soul co exists with the body, can completely control
all the functions but does not always do so as it would neglect the basic needs of the human
body like hunger and rest (Nadler 2015). Therefore, the soul exists in the parallel universe
and does control the body in the times of need. There are examples of human brains and body
performing supernatural actions, which can only happen if there is certain energy controlling
the body. Parallelism theories help in explaining the different aspects of the mind body
problem. The psychological issues of the people, the different psychological disorders like

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time disorientation disorder and multiple personality disorders and a number of psychological
issues that cannot be explained like phobias and manias (Piaget 2014). The physical
distortions happening in the body in case of fits also shows the control of mind over the body.
The prime mover’s existence will not stand for the Parallelism concept as the mind and body
are in different planes and merge by chance and the need, not in synchronization.

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Reference List:
Barrera, J.M., 2017. Aristotle’s Concept of the Soul and the Link Between Mind and Body in
Contemporary Philosophy. In Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update-Vol. II (pp. 47-55).
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Bunge, M., 2014. The mind–body problem: A psychobiological approach. Elsevier.
Chalmers, D.J., 2014. Strong necessities and the mind–body problem: a reply. Philosophical
Studies, 167(3), pp.785-800.
Costa, P. and Da Silva, F.M., 2016. Emotional Approach. Advances in Cognitive
Ergonomics, p.300.
Ghiselin, M.T., 2016. Homology, convergence and parallelism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B,
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Hübner, K., 2016. Spinoza and the Case for Philosophy by Elhanan Yakira. Journal of the
History of Philosophy, 54(1), pp.170-171.
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and Method, p.153.

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Popper, K., 2013. Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem: In defence of interaction.
Routledge.
Radhakrishnan, S. and Moore, C.A., 2014. A source book in Indian philosophy. Princeton
University Press.
Sawni, A. and Breuner, C.C., 2017. Clinical Hypnosis, an Effective Mind–Body Modality for
Adolescents with Behavioral and Physical Complaints. Children, 4(4), p.19.
Nadler, S., 2015. Recent Work on Spinoza. Jewish Quarterly Review, 105(4), pp.507-514.
Heil, J., 2013. Philosophy of mind: A contemporary introduction. Routledge.