There once was a man named Rene Descartes. He was a pretty good philosopher, except when he attempted to prove, without a doubt, the existence of God. He did fairly well for himself otherwise, though, with successes such as “I think, therefore I am”, which is discussed in the first Meditation. Perhaps his most interesting idea, it is debatable whether it can be called a success, is the idea of mind-body dualism. This is something that is discussed in a few of the meditations. Mind-body dualism, according to Descartes, is the opinion that the mind and the body are separate entities. The mind is entirely metaphysical and the body is purely physical. This could have been an excellent point and a fabulous step in proving the existence of God and everything else. However, Descartes didn’t exactly prove for the metaphysical and the physical worlds were connected. Apparently, they just WERE. Also, like all things metaphysical, there was no way to prove the existence of the separation despite all of his morbid points that involved the removal of body parts and whatnot, which didn’t really prove much at all in the end. All of his arguments could easily have been debunked, disproved, and called disatisfactory.
Despite the failure of Rene to prove, without a doubt, that mind-body dualism is a fact, I can honestly say I believe it to be true. Or, at least, I can see where it can be true. The mind and all of the thoughts have always seemed to come from somewhere other than the ‘self’, the physical manifestations of ourselves on the Earth. We can’t feel the thoughts in our heads, and while modern science can pick out particular areas in the brain that flash when thoughts or feelings and senses are provoked, we still do not know where some of these ideas come from. At any point in time, any random thought can pop into your mind. Where do the ideas of authors come from? Artist’s mental images? The ideas for all things scientific? It seems to come from something much more intense than simple synapses in the brain. If it was only the synapses and the electrical activities, why are some of the ideas so unique and new? Why don’t we all have them and understand them?
Consider, instead, that the mind is a metaphysical thing, sort of a floating ghost brain in the metaphysical world where God and the like exist. Or, if it suits you better, picture the ‘mind’ as your soul or true self. The soul/mind is something that has many thoughtds, ideas, and dreams. But the mind is blind, deaf, and mute. It is simply a thing like the air around us. The mind wants to see, wants to move and touch and speak and expand itself. The only plausible way to do this is to have a physical manifestation of itself to manipulate and move through. This is where the body comes in. The body is the soul’s container in the physical relm, though the soul/mind isn’t exactly contained in the body, but connected to it. Picture a video game, where the person controls the character on screen. Though, in this case, it would be like the character controlling the physical person. Ther obvious issues with this are that the controller obviously is in that situation, along with wiring and other tools. In the mind-body dualism, there isn’t something so true or obvious. There isn’t really anything that can be contemplated that is both physical and metaphysical. It’s impossible to be both.
However, at one point in the book, Descartes mentions the imagination. As I see it, the imagination can be this ‘controller’. The metaphysical mind is extended from the metaphysical world to the physical body by the imagination. The imagination is used by the body to create, to bring ideas and thoughts and movement from the metaphysical world to the physical world (I.e.; While I sleep and am tapping into the metaphysical world, I picture a house. I wake and create that house in the physical world.). The imagination also brings the senses and images from the physical world to the metaphysical world, allowing the ‘soul’ to clasp onto those ideas. Where it can ‘see’ and understand metaphysical ideas, the sights and sounds of the physical world are much, much more vivid and allow for better growth and expression for the ‘soul’ in question. It can, to a certain extent, be almost compared to how a robotic prosthetic arm allowed the ideas of the mind to become movement again. In essence, the body has become the robotic prosthetic body to the soul.
I realize, of course, the issues with these ideas. I still have the problems that one will always face when concerning the metaphysical world. “How do you know?” “Because I can feel it.” is a poor answer. A better answer would be, “Well, where else would these ideas come from? How else would humanity have learned some of the things it has, if not from pulling them from some other, greater force?” The greater force, of course, would the metaphysical world where all ideas and answers reside (And God, if that is your belief.). But even that can be knocked aside easily, I am certain, but a much better philosopher than I am. It is this that perhaps should prove that the idea of mind-body dualism is nothing but a laughable matter that should be quickly tossed aside, especially since modern technology has all but proved it completely false. Still, it would seem rather empty and useless to believe that all of our thoughts, emotions, feeling, ideas, and creativities are just neurons and chemicals firing at random intervals. It takes the ‘humanity’ out of being human and makes us, essentially, organic robots.
So, perhaps Descartes was wrong. Probably, I am wrong. Maybe everyone is wrong. Maybe we’re just little wind up, hormone controlled dolls. There is honestly no way of knowing any of this. Well, unless we were to off ourselves and possibly sever the delicate bond that ties our ‘souls‘ to our bodies, but that’s not exactly the brightest of ideas. No, for now, I think it is safe to say that Religion, Philosophy, and Science really don’t have it figured out just right yet. They all have their guesses, but nobody has the absolute answer to the problem. It isn’t like one plus one. It’s something so much more difficult to answer than that, so much more controversial and complex and nobody can prove a damn thing just yet. Maybe not ever. And hey, maybe the mystery is what life is really all about.
