*quote*
Norman and Bruno: I myself am not defending a dualist position (body + soul, mind, whatever). I am prepared to say the body is the only substance that exists. That does not mean its behavior is explainable in terms of physics alone.
Yes, I would say that whenever we think anything, our brains are doing something. It may just be though -- and i think it is -- that our brains give us the capacity to engage in linguistic behavior that is itself non-physical. Whether an idea is logical or illogical, whether it is relevant or off the point, whether or not an essay is disorganized -- these are not physical properties. I cannot even fathom what it would mean to say there is a physical state that is the irrelevance of a point.
*end quote*
I don't see how anyone could seriously suggest that a physical description of the brain is the "same thing" as the subjective experience arising from that brain state, and I don't think that denying this alone makes one a dualist. My idea of a dualist is someone who claims that there is a mystical, non-physical something-or-other, distinct from the brain although perhaps residing in it, which is responsible for some or all our (more noble, usually) thoughts and feelings. This (implicit) belief appears to be surprisingly widespread among laypeople, as I have occasion to discover in my work talking to patients with severe psychotic illnesses, such as schizophrenia. They refuse to take medication because, they argue, how can chemical changes in the brain possibly have any bearing on their thoughts and feelings? "I now know it was silly to believe that my family had been replaced by aliens, doctor, because I have thought about it rationally - not because of the medication they gave me in hospital. If the chemical imbalance in my brain comes back, as you say, it won't make me believe those things again because I know they aren't true. And anyway, if I did believe something weird, I wouldn't stop believing it just because of some medication". So they stop treatment, and are soon back in hospital with exactly the same symptoms. I have sometimes wondered whether pre-existing familiarity with the mind/body debate would make any difference to a patient's prognosis: there's a novel use for philosophy!
Stathis Papaioannou Melbourne, Australia
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