Philosophy Discussion Forums

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Yesterday, 6:43 am

Belinda wrote: ↑October 10th, 2024, 12:27 pm How anyone can claim the brain and the mind are identical is explicable only by lack of imagination.

I'm not sure if they claim they're *identical*. I think they claim that the mind is generated, or supported, () wholly by the brain. In other words, there is no part of the mind that is *not* dependent on the brain. Their idea could be correct, but it might be mistaken too. I don't think there is enough evidence to go with either hypothesis, is there?

It is evident to most people that what they can think about, and feel, is not the same as what can be weighed and measured which is their brains. You are talking about epiphenomenalism: that mind is an unnecessary adjunct of brain.
The evidence is such that human beings and probably some other animals too could not exist unless they experienced stuff, and moreover, in the case of human beings ,were aware that they did so.

Sculptor1 wrote: ↑October 10th, 2024, 2:34 pm None of this comes close to the disabling dualism which sees the mind as independant of the body.

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Yesterday, 6:48 am Do people really think the mind could be *independent* of the body? Separate and separable? The mind might not be wholly contained (?) by the body, but...?

Wow.

Sculptor1 wrote: ↑Today, 5:19 am I'm surprised you are asking this question.
Have you never heard of a "soul" and the idea that the personality can exist without the need for a healthy brain?

I think I've already answered this point:

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Yesterday, 8:21 am We would all *like* to think there may be some sort of continuation after bodily death. I would only say [...] that we have no reason to conclude that (some form of) life after bodily death is impossible. To go farther than that, without evidence, is just fantasy, I think.

I direct your attention to my final sentence.

Sculptor1 wrote: ↑Today, 5:22 am Sensation happens in the brain.

I think you chose the wrong word? I think perception happens in the brainmind, while sensation is more located with the sensory organs themselves, and their connections to the brainmind. But I agree with the point you're making here (and before).