Philosophy of Mind

The Philosophy of Mind is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, such as thoughts, feelings, consciousness, and sensory experiences, and its relationship to the physical body. It is usually considered as a part of Metaphysics, though is also involved in many other fields. In particular, the Philosophy of Mind involves asking about the nature of identity, perception, death, and free will. Its study should not be mistaken with empirical psychology, which is concerned with the results of sensory observation. For example, it is known that exercising may release feel-good hormones such as endorphins, making one feel happier. However, from a philosophical perspective, is it necessary for the feeling of happiness to be derived from releasing such feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters (I.e. think about the 'Occasionalism' entry where the body and mind do not have a necessary causal interaction)? What is happiness? These questions become more complicated when one considers the possibility of the paranormal, supernatural, and even computational - if all it takes to form the mind were the same kinds of neurons and chemicals that the human brain is composed of, could computers also possess a mind? These questions take us to the central issue in the Philosophy of Mind: the mind-body problem, where the relationship of the supposedly non-material mind to the material body, and vice versa, is considered. The primary schools of thought that try to resolve this problem are Dualism and Monism. Dualism argues that the mind and body are separate entities and that mental phenomena are essentially non-physical in nature. Mental phenomena seem to possess quite unique subjective qualities, known as qualia or “the ways things seems to us”, that the physical lacks. The concept of Dualism was first considered by Plato and Aristotle, and was later further formulated by Réne Descartes. Descartes identified the mind with consciousness and differentiated this from the brain, which is more so the physical seat of intelligence. Under Dualism, there is Substance Dualism, which argues that the mind is an independently existing substance, Property Dualism, and Predicate Dualism. Each of those can be further divided and classified. On the other hand, Monism argues that the mind and body do not exist as separate entities. At first, Monism was advocated by Parmenides and later by Baruch Spinoza and George Berkeley. Under Monism, there is Physicalism, Idealism, and Neutral Monism. Physicalism argues that the mind is merely a physical construct and will eventually be proved entirely by physical theory. With developments in the field of science during the 20th century, especially in atomic theory, evolution, neuroscience, and computer technology, Physicalism became the dominant doctrine. Meanwhile, Idealism argues that all that exists is only the mind and that the outside world is either also the mental itself or just an illusion created by the mind. This then follows that the mind-body problem would not be a problem at all. Alternatively, Neutral Monism argues that there is only one kind of unknown, fundamental substance in existence that is neither mental nor physical but is capable of mental and physical phenomena. It can be labelled a lot of different names, such as Substance, Nature, or God. Overall, the Philosophy of Mind is an extensive branch of philosophy, where its concern with the nature of the mind and its mental phenomena begs a myriad of questions about ourselves and the outside world.