Morgan Diehl 1

Abstract: One of the core issues of philosophy is the mind-body problem that questions the

relationship between the human body and mind. Its inability to be answered leads to the

development of theories that are heavily debated. Dualism is the first, stating that both the mind

and body exist and are independent of one another. Religious people tend to believe this due to

their belief in the soul. Next is physicalism, which says that the mind doesn’t exist and humans

are only their physical bodies. This is typically preferred by psychologists and biologists due to

its strong reliance on scientific evidence. Finally, the dual aspect theory claims that the mind

exists, but it depends on the body to survive. Since this idea is more nuanced, there isn’t a

specific group of people who strongly agree with this position. All of these hypotheses have been

adapted and well-thought-out, but they will never be able to truthfully explain the human’s

mental capacity. Despite this, we continue to wonder and fester over the uncertain.

The mind-body problem in philosophy is an ontological concern, meaning it has to do

with the existence of something and its relation to something else. For this problem, we are

dealing with the possible existence of the mind/soul and its relation to the body. Some specific

questions are trying to be answered when handling this issue, including whether there is a

relationship between the mind and body and, if so, what it is. Another important question is how

possible solutions account for emotions and feelings. Three major resolutions answer these

questions: dualism, physicalism, and the dual aspect theory.

Dualism is the belief that both the mind and body exist and are independent of each other.

This view heavily aligns with Christian, and some other religions, values. Although you don’t

have to be religious to have this outlook, dualists often believe in the idea of the ‘soul.’ These
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connect so easily due to the idea of the afterlife, which relies on your mind/soul being separate

from your body. To think that after your body dies, your mind continues to live, in whatever

form, is to have a dualistic mindset. In Christianity, your soul is evaluated by God1 after your

death to be sent to heaven or hell where you will continue your life without a physical presence.

For this to be true, you must believe that not only does your consciousness exist in a way that is

not physical, but also, that it must be able to persist even without your body. Dualism stems from

our questioning of how our brains function and why we can experience emotions so deeply. As

Thomas Nagel says in his novel What Does It All Mean, “If what happens in your experience is

inside your mind in a way in which what happens in your brain is not, it looks as though your

experiences and other mental states can't just be physical states of your brain. There has to be

more to you than your body with its humming nervous system” (Nagel, 1987, p. 30). Although

science wasn’t fully developed at the time this theory began, and still isn’t, people can see that

our mentality was more complex than an organ inside of our skulls. Human’s ability to think and

feel so much more intricately when compared to other organisms led people to believe that there

must be something else occurring within us. This led to the invention of the mind and its relation

to all of the unexplainable things about us, including our emotions, urges, and morals. Dualists

saw this as a completely separate entity within ourselves that could exist without our physical

bodies. I don’t believe this theory, largely due to my non-religious position. In my opinion,

dualism heavily relies on religious beliefs for justification, and I have never been one to “just

have faith.” Rather, I like my core values to have a factual base with some morality factored in.

In this case, I find that there is no way to undeniably prove the independence of the mind and

body, leading me to disagree with the dualistic approach to the mind-body problem.

1
Christians often use dualism to justify the evaluation of your soul. Since you’re stuck with this part of yourself
forever, you must do everything in your power to make it good. Therefore, God has the right to punish you
whenever you sin by sending you to hell.
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Physicalism is the belief that the mind does not exist and that humans are solely physical

beings. Physicalists attribute all emotions and morals to science, whether it be hormones or

natural instinct. This is an extremely reductionist approach as it reduces all humans to simple,

biological beings. They believe that every aspect of a human being can be explained using

scientific methods when analyzing the brain. This theory was developed in response to dualism

for those who didn’t believe in the mind/soul due to its inability to be proven. Nagel writes,

“Everything else in the world is made of physical matter—different combinations of the same

chemical elements. Why shouldn't we be? … Some people believe that this complex physical

system is sufficient by itself to give rise to mental life” (Nagel, 1987, p. 31). So, even if some

things about our complex mentalities can’t be explained scientifically, physicalists will argue that

the technology needed to find the answer hasn’t been developed yet. They believe that all

happiness comes from a boost of serotonin and that we only go out of our way for this feeling

due to the euphoria experienced. In their eyes, when we say that we are in love, this isn’t true.

Rather, we are experiencing the pleasure associated with large amounts of oxytocin and

dopamine being released by neurotransmitters. When someone is joining the military despite the

risks, they are only doing so due to nature telling them to and the instinct to please others.

Physicalists believe the human is an organism made of cells with every action and emotion

driven by biological processes. Despite this theory being appealing to me due to its ability to be

mostly proven, something inside tells me that it is incorrect. I think that a large part of being

human is scientific, but not all of the explanations provided for our emotion-driven actions are

convincing. For example, the idea of going to the military despite the high risk of death just to

experience a small amount of pleasure from high dopamine levels isn’t believable to me.

Fighting in war goes directly against our instinct to protect ourselves from danger, leading me to
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believe that society telling us to do so and chemicals in our brains aren’t enough to put one’s life

on the line. Even more confusing, is our tendency to change ourselves to conform to society's

ideals. This doesn’t always result in pleasurable experiences but rather, makes people suffer

internally. However, we continue to do so at such high rates that something more than biology

must occur. All in all, physicalists reduce humans to be purely scientific, which is something that

I can’t agree with.

The dual aspect theory is the belief that the mind exists, but it is dependent on the body

for existence. These theorists think that humans are more than their biology but that the

conscience can’t be present after the body dies. In this theory, our bodies are assumed to be a

host for our minds, grounding the place where we have experiences. Without this provided base,

the mind simply cannot exist. This explanation was determined when people realized that there

was more going inside ourselves beyond our physicality that had previously only been

understood through religion. Nagel states, “There seem to be two very different kinds of things

going on in the world: the things that belong to physical reality, which many different people can

observe from the outside, and those other things that belong to mental reality, which each of us

experiences from the inside in his own case.” (Nagel, 1987, p. 36). The invisibility of our

emotions and thoughts has always been confusing, but dual aspect theorists give us a very simple

answer. They simply state that there is part of us that is beyond the physical world we are used

to. We can’t see it, but we feel it, and that is enough proof of its existence2. Once we die, our

mind goes away, leaving us completely lifeless and empty. Some people may want to reject this

hypothesis due to its lack of an afterlife. Many people find the idea of our existence just coming

to an end with no further experiences to be had uncomfortable. However, as someone who has

2
The dual aspect theory heavily aligns with metaphysics in philosophy. Metaphysicians deal with all things beyond
the physical world and believe in an “inner life.” This is their way of saying that we have a mind inside of us that is
not observable, but is rather just part of our consciousness.
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never wanted to exist past death, I find this idea extremely appealing. I’ve always viewed death

as the absolute end, and I am fine with that. Therefore, the idea that our mind does go away

along with our bodies perfectly aligns with my views. Furthermore, I believe that there must be

more to the mentality of humans than just our brains. Although hormones can account for most

experiences, they can’t explain everything. There has to be some kind of mind that is part of our

bodies and, if you think like I do, it shouldn’t cause you to continue “living” after death. All

things considered, I mostly agree with this theory and feel as though it brings me closure even

though this solution may seem vague.

The mind-body problem is an issue that can still be debated due to its high levels of

complexity, despite these three options. Another question about this dilemma that I would like to

address is why we don’t have a true, undeniable answer. I think the clearest answer to this is that

no solution to this could ever be completely proven. Although physicalists would argue and say

that there will eventually be technology that will prove everything is biological, many people

believe that the mind exists. Even if new information about the brain was found, a lot of people,

including myself, wouldn’t wholeheartedly agree. This problem goes hand-in-hand with the

question of what happens after death, meaning that neither can ever be answered, and we will

continue to wonder about these things for the rest of our lives. The final question I am going to

address is why we feel the need to find an answer in the first place. I think that human beings are

generally curious creatures. We like to sit and ponder within our imaginations. This is then only

amplified by our need to know everything. Most people are uncomfortable with unknown things,

making them determined to always seek answers. In this case, we are left with the dissatisfaction

of never finding the solution. As a way to combat this feeling, we come up with theories and
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hypotheses and continue to have spiraling thoughts. So, to ignore the disappointment rising, I

recommend picking a theory you like and moving on, unless you study philosophy, of course.
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Bibliography

Nagel, Thomas. 1987. “The Mind-Body Problem.” What Does It All Mean?, Oxford University

Press, pp. 27-37.