Traversing the Second Side of the Triangle
[Philosophies of Mind and Soul]

In the following blog segments, I discuss several commanding theological world views, e.g., Hinduism, hermeticism, materialism, and Judeo-Christian-Islam. Therein, I remind the reader of irrefutable problems, i.e., [1] the extreme cognitive dissonance betwixt divergent theologies, [2] the disturbing plentitude of disagreement as to how an adherent is to interact with his or her conception of the highest Divine, [3] the unsurmountable disparity as to the revelations uttered by those significant individuals considered by their adherents to be fully enlightened beings, avatars, saints, and incarnated Divines, and [4] the universal lack of personal tolerance for others holding divergent opinions.

In truth, our current world views of physics, psychology, and theologies are incomplete and yet to be adequately described and validated. The future for developing conscious life in this universe is dim, unless we bring about a successful transformation of our species to a more altruistic one.

This is more than an academic issue, for such disagreement is capable of destroying our species. Clearly, there are truth and hope in the Institute adage, “Mankind’s God lives in mankind’s unconscious, and no where else.”

Substance-Dualism: However, it would be fair to agree with what I have said so far, but, maintain the possibility that the operations of our brains are insufficient to explain our emotions, our thoughts, our self-awareness, our reflective consciousness and so on. If this is so, then, please join with the French mathematician and philosopher, Rene Descartes and his Cartesian philosophy.

In philosophy of mind, dualism claims that mind and matter are two ontologically separate categories. Mind-body dualism claims that neither the mind nor matter can be reduced to each other in any way. Western dualist philosophical traditions (as exemplified by Descartes) equate mind with the conscious self and theorize on consciousness on the basis of mind/body dualism.

Descartes in his Passions of the Soul and The Description of the Human Body suggested that the body works like a machine, that is, it has material properties. The mind (or soul), on the other hand, was described as an essence operating outside the laws of nature. Descartes argued that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Most of the previous accounts of the relationship between mind and body had been unidirectional.

Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is “the seat of the soul” for several reasons. First, the soul is unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain the pineal gland appeared to be unitary (though subsequent microscopic inspection has revealed it is formed of two hemispheres). Second, Descartes observed that the pineal gland was located near the ventricles. He believed the cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles acted through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Sensations delivered by the nerves to the pineal, he believed, caused it to vibrate in some sympathetic manner, which in turn gave rise to the emotions and caused the body to act. Cartesian dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the mind–body problem for many years after Descartes’ death.

In present-day discussions on the practice of animal vivisection, it is normal to consider Descartes as an advocate of this practice, as a result of his dualistic philosophy. Some of the sources say that Descartes denied the animals could feel pain, and therefore could be used without concern. Other sources consider that Descartes denied that animals had reason or intelligence, but did not lack sensations or perceptions, but these could be explained mechanistically.

The common term used to express Descartes’ position philosophically is substance dualism.