Mind-Body Problem: Superior Knowledge is Impossible

TOBIAS, John Jerome R.

MA Philosophy
Keywords: Mind, Body, Descartes, Empiricism, Hume

Introduction

One of the most popular topics in Philosophy is the existence of a soul, which is equivalent

to the human mind. As early as the time of Plato, there has been the concept of a soul that came

from the real world to the material world. In fact, Plato would always say that a person is just

recalling what he already knows from the real world when he or she is learning something in the

material world. Eventually, this principle has been used by the Roman Catholic Church to preach

the existence of a soul and the importance of going to heaven, which is tantamount to the real

world of Plato. Of course, the consequence of such is the solidification of the argument regarding

God’s existence, which was very much established by Saint Thomas Aquinas. However, there was

a paradigm shift when Rene Descartes came into the picture.

Rene Descartes is considered as the father and originator of Modern Philosophy. He was

from France. Modern Philosophy may be said to have begun with Descartes’ work entitled

Meditations. It is in this work where he was in solitude, was meditating, and was becoming

conscious of doubtful ideas one has accepted in life. He made a decision that the time has come to

overthrow all of one’s beliefs. In the first sentences of the Meditations he said: “Everything must

be thoroughly overthrown for once in my life, if I ever want to establish anything solid and

permanent in the sciences… Today I have freed my mind from all cares. I am quite alone. At last

I shall have time to devote myself seriously and freely to the destruction of all my former

1
opinions.”1 How was that possible for Descartes? He turned to rationalism. He also used the

method of doubt.

Consequently, because of his method, Descartes was able to come up with his famous

statement: “I think, therefore I am.” In French, this is translated to: “Cogito ergo sum.” Descartes

doubted everything. He doubted the world. He doubted if he was merely dreaming or if he was

awake in reality. He even doubted God and its existence. Because of all those doubts, he became

certain that he was existing. He simply pointed out that he was doubting. He cannot doubt doubt.

Doubt is tantamount to thinking. Thinking is existence. Moreover, he used the concept of clear

and distinct idea in guaranteeing the validity of his claims and concepts. He used this to prove

God. He said that he has a clear and distinct idea of God and that God is the most perfect being

and can never be a deceiver. Therefore, God exists. However, Descartes’ strategy is to use the

proof that a perfect, non-deceiving God exists in order to establish that he can trust his clear and

distinct ideas. This has been called as the Cartesian Circle. God guarantees the clear and distinct

ideas but the clear and distinct ideas are what guarantee the existence of God.

Incidentally, through the clear and distinct idea, Descartes was able to establish that the

body is distinct from the mind. In the cogito ergo sum, mind is consciousness and it doubted

everything else. He established dualism. There are two kinds of substances: the mental and the

physical. In Meditation VI, Descartes stated: “Since on the one hand I have a clear and distinct

idea of myself insofar as I am only a thinking thing and not an extended being, and since on the

other hand I have a distinct idea of body insofar as it is only an extended substance which does not

think, it is certain that this I (that is to say, my soul, by virtue of which I am what I am) is entirely

1. Descartes René, A Discourse on Method and Meditations (New York, NY: Bobbs Merrill, 1960))

2
and truly distinct from my body and it can exist without it.” 2 As such, according to Descartes, the

mind is not only entirely different in its attributes from the body, but is totally independent of the

body, and may exist without it. This gave rise to the Mind-Body Problem.

The Mind-Body Problem may also be called as the Real Distinction Problem. From the

very name of it, the problem raises the question if the mind is really distinct from the body. Is there

really a mind that is separate from the body? It could go as far as analyzing if there is really a soul

since the mind is the same with it, as well as consciousness. How is the link between the mind and

the body explained? Is it caused by mere coincidence? Should the theory that the mind and the

body are distinct from each other be accepted? Or should it be rejected? Those are the questions

that other philosophers after Descartes have been trying to answer. These questions were answered

in the rise of British Empiricism.

British Empiricism has three major personalities. They are John Locke, George Berkeley,

and David Hume. The development of the logic of British Empiricism was the work of these three

philosophers. Their fundamental principle is that sense perception is the only reliable method for

gaining knowledge and for testing all claims to knowledge. Another significance of the said

movement is its boldness to reject the Cartesian Rationalism. Empiricism is only a theory of

knowledge, a theory of what we can know. It does not really analyze metaphysics.

John Locke said that all human ideas have only one source and that is experience. He

aimed to show that sensory experience is the origin of knowledge. The only other source is the

reflection about sensory experience. The self is a unity of consciousness. 3 On the other hand,

George Berkeley stated that humans can never have sensory experiences of material substances.

2. Ibid.
3. Kathleen M. Squadrito, John Locke (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979))

3
Humans can only experience sensory qualities. The existence of physical substances is only on

their being perceived.4 It has to be noted however that the Empiricist Movement asked two

questions: 1) “How do you know?” and 2) “What are the limits of human knowledge?” It is David

Hume who pushed these questions consistently and relentlessly.

David Hume stated that the self that we know is a bundle of expressions. Moreover, he had

the purpose of destroying the age-old belief in Philosophy that there are two kinds of knowledge.

They are the following. One is the lower kind of knowledge which is the ordinary knowledge,

which Descartes called as the confused ideas of the senses. The other one is the superior level of

knowledge which has reason as its source and which provides certainty. Hume denied this

distinction. The concept of having superior knowledge is a total illusion for him and is false. This

includes metaphysical knowledge. Further, humans can never know the nature of ultimate reality.

In short, it can be inferred and analyzed that David Hume does not believe that humans can

have superior knowledge. As stated above, the Empiricist Movement questions the limits of human

knowledge. It has been established that knowledge depends on sense perceptions. As such, humans

can only know the things that are perceived by the senses. Thus, metaphysical knowledge is not

possible for humans. A part of that metaphysical knowledge is the soul or the mind. As stated by

Hume, the concept of having superior knowledge is false and as such, the concept of the soul is

false.

Thus, as can be deduced from what the British Empiricists, particularly Hume, mentioned

above, there should be no distinction between the body and the mind. After all, the actual process

of inner perception is absolutely hidden from human beings. This has to be taken in contrast with

4. T. E. Jessop, George Berkeley (London: Published for the British Council by Longmans, Green, 1960))

4
the concept of Berkeley that there is no body but only the mind. However, both of them agree that

sensory experience is the basis of knowledge. In essence, according to them, there is really no

distinction between the mind and the body. As far as Hume is concerned, the concept of having

superior knowledge is false.5 As such, there is no problem as regards the mind and the body.

It is then important to know if there is really a need to solve the Mind-Body Problem if it

is thus proven that the concept of having superior knowledge is false. Although it may sound nice

to hear that a philosopher should solve the Mind-Body Problem to showcase his or her expertise,

solving the same by providing an answer that is not aligned with the view of British Empiricism

could just result to a waste of time. The researcher recognizes the importance of this process of

doing an exposition of this famous problem of Philosophy. However, getting deeper in this

research would reveal that British Empiricism is very practical and sensible. Eventually, there

would be a realization that the problem does not really exist or it could be that there can never be

an answer to the same since humans are not capable of truly knowing everything.

Research Question

This paper will answer this question: “Is there still a need to solve the Mind-Body Problem

when it is already established that the concept of having superior knowledge is false?”

5. David Hume, D. C. Yalden-Thomson, and David Hume, Theory of Knowledge. Containing the Enquiry
Concerning Human Understanding, the Abstract, and Selected Passages from Book I of A Treatise of Human
Nature (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1953))

5
Motivation

This question is very interesting because the Mind-Body Problem is a kind of philosophical

problem that could get the attention of people who are not interested in Philosophy. It has always

been debated upon even outside the field of Philosophy if there is indeed a soul. This is also

interrelated to religion because the existence of the soul and the separation of the body and the

mind are being taught by the different religious groups. This question is very fascinating because

it will make one wonder and evaluate why having superior knowledge is false. This will be related

to the concept that knowledge is very limited. One may think that he or she can have a full

understanding of the world or persons or things because he or she can have a lot of knowledge.

Unfortunately, this may not be true since the knowledge that a person could have is very limited.

As such, because of the concept that having superior knowledge is false, it could be stated that

there is no need to investigate if there is really a distinction between the mind and the body. This

makes this indeed motivating.

Claim

No, there is no longer a need to solve the Mind-Body Problem when it is already established

that the concept of having superior knowledge is false.

Argument Strategy

As already done by the other studies prior to this one, this paper would also give an

exposition of the Mind-Body Problem so that a better understanding and analysis could be

6
achieved regarding the said problem. In doing so, an appropriate action could be arrived at to

determine the need in solving the said problem. This paper will also offer the reasons to believe

that the concept of having superior knowledge is false. This will discuss the concept of Descartes’

methodic doubt and his famous “Cogito Ergo Sum” and other related theories. This will also give

a glimpse on the topic of British Empiricism but will focus on David Hume’s theory of knowledge.

This would also emphasize the non-importance of finding the link between the mind and body.

This will also show the non-necessity of solving the Mind-Body Problem because of David Hume.

Argument

Premise 1: The Mind-Body Problem is concerned with determining if the mind is

indeed separate from the body because there is no link between them.

Premise 2: The concept of having superior knowledge is false because humans can

only know the things that are perceived by the senses, and as such, they cannot

establish the existence of a soul.

Conclusion: there is no longer a need to solve the Mind-Body Problem when it is

already established that the concept of having superior knowledge is false.

Paper Structure

This paper will first introduce the topic of the research. The next part would be the body

of the paper. The body will be divided in several sections. These sections individually contain a

7
topic. They are the following: What the Mind-Body Problem is; Descartes’ method of doubt and

the “Cogito Ergo Sum”; an exposition of the said problem; Descartes’ dualism; British

Empiricism; the theory of knowledge by David Hume; the concepts of the limitation of human

knowledge and why having superior knowledge is false; application of the said concepts to the

Mind-Body; and synthesis. The last part of the paper would be the conclusion.

References

Descartes Rene. A Discourse on Method and Meditations. New York, NY: Bobbs Merrill, 1960.

Hume, David, D. C. Yalden-Thomson, and David Hume. Theory of Knowledge. Containing the

Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, the Abstract, and Selected Passages from

Book I of A Treatise of Human Nature. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1953.

Jessop, T. E. George Berkeley. London: Published for the British Council by Longmans, Green,

1960.

Squadrito, Kathleen M. John Locke. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979.