Freud, Plato, and Descartes: Understanding the Mind-Body Connection
Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego
What is the relationship between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego?
The relationship between the Id (the repressed sexual and aggressive impulses), the Ego (conscious memories and experiences), and the Superego (conscience) is as follows: The Id is dynamic but wants to bypass censorship. The Superego acts as a barrier and prevents it. However, when we are sleeping, the Superego is relaxed and lets out the repressed, which is manifested symbolically through dreams.
Desire and Reason
Explain the relationship between desire and reason.
The relationship between desire and reason plays a vital role in humans. According to Freud, everything about our psychic structure is directly related to our rationality. Desire and reason are inseparable elements for humans.
Dualism
What is dualism?
Dualism is a philosophical doctrine according to which we are composed of two substances: one material (body) and the other spiritual and immaterial (soul, mind, or spirit).
Platonic Dualism
Explain Platonic dualism.
Platonic dualism is a philosophical doctrine that speaks of the accidental union of body and soul. This means that we are two opposite realities of nature that cannot ever truly fit. Thus, while the body tends to pleasure, comfort, knowing through the senses, and error, the soul seeks knowledge through reason and can reach the truth. Plato takes the Orphic doctrine, the doctrine of reincarnation of the soul in one or more bodies until it has completely purified since the soul is imprisoned in the body.
Platonic Dualism vs. Cartesian Dualism
What is the difference between the Platonic dualism of Descartes?
According to Plato, there is an accidental union between body and soul since the soul is in the body as in a prison. Descartes believed the body and soul are two independent and autonomous substances that can exist without the other. Thus, Descartes says that the soul is a thinking substance, which is our essence, and the body is a machine. We do not know if it truly exists or not.
Impact of Dualism
What impact does dualism have?
- Since the soul and body are two independent realities, the world is divided into two separate areas:
- The area of spiritual beings (humans)
- The area of material beings (the rest)
There is a radical break between spirit and matter. This division is unacceptable from a rational standpoint.
- Communication between body and soul is the main problem with dualism. Because if the soul and body are two separate substances, it is not well understood how they can relate to one another. This problem is most criticized by thinkers who support other positions.
Monism
Monism: Definition and types.
Monism is a philosophical doctrine according to which man is composed of a single substance. When this substance is of a material type (body), we are talking about materialistic monism. If the substance is of a spiritual and immaterial nature (soul, mind, spirit), we speak of spiritual monism.
Materialistic Monism
Explain materialistic monism.
According to materialistic monism, we are only the body, and the soul is nothing but the activities of the brain. In the 4th century BC, Democritus said that we are nothing but atoms moving randomly. Epicurus denied the existence of the immaterial soul; we just have the body, and the brain thinks, perceives, and feels. However, Platonic-Christian dualism prevailed, and it was not until the Renaissance (late 15th century) that materialism returned. In the 18th century, “Man a Machine” was published, which stated that a human being is only a set of nerves, muscles, and bones. The soul was considered a sophisticated piece of machinery.
Mentalism
Explain the doctrine of mentalism.
Its author is Berkeley (18th century). For Berkeley, what we call the body has no existence independent of the mind but exists in and for the mind. He says the body is an idea rooted in the mind. That is why everything that exists is your mind and your ideas. We have no assurance that our perceptions correspond to any external object. In conclusion, we exist only as we perceive that we are perceived by someone.
Reductionist Materialism
Explain reductionist materialism.
This doctrine asserts that there is no difference between mind and brain. All mental phenomena are the result of a set of physiological processes taking place in the brain. It denies the existence of mental phenomena. Scientists know much more about the functioning of neuronal circuits.
Behavioral Psychology vs. Functionalism
Differences between behavioral psychology and functionalism.
Behavioral psychology maintains that the mind is like a black box to which we have no access. All you see are stimuli that affect our sense organs and the answers we give to those stimuli (behavior). Functionalism reduces all mental processes to a set of functions that are performed by the brain.