Mind and Body Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mind and Body - Essay Example Optimistic mind seems to create a successful physical presence or cure it off its illnesses. Similarly, there are a number of cases when the presence of a strong body influences the mind and it continues to exist healthily. The interaction between the mind and the body has been suggested to be supportive in nature.   The earliest of the theories was on Dualism, the separate existence of mind and body. The physical differentiation of the mind and the body was easily achievable. As Descartes points out (Wozniak, Robert H. 1995), by cutting of a part of the body, say a leg, the body is affected but there is no change in the way the mind works. This makes them isolated and hence, the mind and the body exist as separate entities. This theory of dualism was strengthened during the days of Descartes and in the 17th century when it branched out into material or substance dualism and property dualism. Cardemoy and, later, Malebranche furthered Cartesian dualism (Wozniak, Robert H. 1995). Ev ery thing physical according to them is extendable in the physical world. One can see what the other person is holding if it is physical. In case of the mind, what is owned by the other person is not known; so also the person's own mind. It is not known fully even to the person who has it. However, in the case of Cartesian dualism, it is taken that the mind does not occupy any space whereas the physical body would occupy space (Churchland, Paul M. 1988). Since it does not occupy space, one cannot realize what the other person holds. And the mind continues to be a mystery. In the case of popular dualism, the mind would interact with the physical world but what it is made of and what it is will continue to be a mystery. Property dualism on the other hand, visualizes the mind to be a byproduct of the physical world and a part of the evolutionary mechanism. Epiphenomenalism, proposed by Skinner (1971), looks at the mind as a part of the evolutionary development of the human being. He al so proposed that mind will not be able to cause any physical change by itself. Whereas the other proponents of the property dualism argue that the mind can cause physical effect. This is reflected in a number of phenomenon of psychomotor effects to prove the point. While in the later eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries, the Monism was proposed and discussed. While Monism essentially falls under two main categories, there are a number of sub-categories within them. Materialism viewed the entire world as a material object. This included the mind and the body as well. They both worked in sync with one another and one evolved from the other as a process. Whereas in the case of idealism, everything is controlled by the mental behavior of the people! Reality is made up of the spiritual forces and these forces are the ones that will push every action in the material world. Mind control physical power and mind can move it without the help of the physical power. In the nineteen th century, the epiphenomenon was proposed by Hodgson (1870) to further the idea that the mind and the body are inseparable; the mind cannot have a physical significance.