Dualism and QualiaPhilosophy of Mind

BRENT SILBYUnlimited (UPT)

Do people have a soul?

• Why?• Why not?

What is a soul?

• Non physical• Not explained by physics.• Not a part of physical world.

* Can exist without a body.* Can exist without a brain.

Problems with soul?

• Non physical• This means its not part of the physical universe. It can’t be

explained by physics. Its not matter, its not energy. It’sseparate from the universe.

PROBLEM• How, then, can the soul interact with things in theuniverse?

• e.g. how can a person’s soul affect the way they think?• How can it cause a person to act?• What sort of wire could you use to connect the physical to the non-physical?

Problems with soul?

• Can exist without a body.• Can exist without a brain.

If this is true, then why do we need brains?If the soul can do all the thinking, and can somehow cause ourbody’s to act, then what do our brains do?

On the other hand, if brains can think and feel, then what needis there for a soul?

Why introduce a soul to the world when it is not required?

DUALISM

• Despite these problems, many people believe that souls exist• Such people think people are made of 2 different types of

substance

1 Physical stuff (the body, brain, etc)

The idea is that the mind and consciousness cannot be explained by science. They are non-physical and therefore cannot be explained by laws of physics (present or future).

No laws of physics or science will be able to explain the mind and consciousness. These are separate from the physical universe (which contains our bodies, planets, light, radiowaves, energy, etc.)

2 Non-physical stuff (the mind, consciousness)

DUALISM

Dualism is the idea that people are made of 2 different types of stuff

1 Physical stuff (the body, brain, etc)2 Non-physical stuff (the mind, consciousness)

People who think dualism is true are called dualists.

People who think dualism is false are known as physicalists(they believe that the mind can only be explained by lookingat the physical structure of the brain)

DUALISM

How would you show that dualism is true?

You need to show that conscious experiences (or the mind) cannot be explained by the physical properties of the brain.

An example of a conscious experience is the experience ofcolor

Qualia

What are Qualia?The essence of experience. For example,

1. The blueness of the color blue.

2. The hurtfulness of pain

3. The sweetness of a sweet taste

Qualia are the qualities of the experience.

Quality of experience is only really knowable to you and is hard to describe to other people – e.g. try to describe the experience ofred to a colorblind person.

Qualia

Are qualia internal or external?

What does this question mean?

An example: does the color Blue exist in the external world,or is it just something that exists in the mind?

Colours

Colors seem real to us, but they do not exist in the external world (the world outside the mind).

What can science tell us about the color blue?

There are wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, which arebeing reflected off object surfaces. There is no Blue, justelectromagnetic radiation.

But WHERE is the Blueness?

Where is that rich, lush sensation of Blue?

It is in the mind

Taste

Question:Is saccharin sweet or bitter?

Most people find it sweet, but a percentage of people think it’sbitter.

All rats taste it as sweet, but all cats taste it as bitter

What is the point?

The point is that the taste isn’t a property of the saccharin. It hascertain chemical properties, but tasteis something that happens internallyto the taster.

Back to Color

Does this can contain redness?

It looks different to colorblind people

It looks different on Mars

The properties of the can remain the same everywhere

The color must be something in the mind. If there were nominds, there would be no redness.

Sound

If a tree falls in the forest, and no-one is there to hear it, does itmake a sound?

Discuss…

Qualia

So it seems that Qualia are internal not external

Qualia are in the mind, not in the world

Next time we will try to find Qualia in the brain.

If we can’t find qualia in the brain, then it would seem that they arenon physical.

If so, dualism is true

Powerpoint by BRENT SILBY

Produced at UPTChristchurch, New Zealand

www.unlimited.school.nz