...people speaking of the mind and body as different phenomena. Talk of the soul refers to the way in which a person acted and integrated with others in the world. Dawkins argued that there is no pre-existent soul that is by nature divine. Scientific beliefs are supported by scientific evidence, and so are reliable, whereas religious beliefs, such as the concept of a soul, depend on myth or faith, thus lack empirical evidence. Dawkins believes that belief in the soul has resulted from the human inability to accept that evil and suffering have no purpose. Each individual is a product of evolution with no immortal soul which survives death. The purpose of life is DNA survival; humans are no more than DNA carriers that will ensure the survival of the species. Dawkins says that we are no more than the ‘robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes’. Our sense of individuality comes from our genes working together as a unit. Humans perceive themselves as a whole and this is necessary for our genes to survive. Through evolution, consciousness has developed in humans so that they are able to choose the behaviour that is more likely to lead to survival of their genes for the purpose of reproduction. He believes that human dignity is passed on to future generations through an individual’s genetic code. Humans should not worry about the meaning of their lives and their place in the universe as they are the universe. Human thinking has gone awry as people...
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...nonrecyclable animal blessed with opposable thumbs capable of grasping at straws.” (Bernard Rosenberg. p. 96) Human Nature consists of an evolving body and an immaterial mind that has an essence which is the result of a highly complex brain; Both the body and mind die, however, while living, they make their own choices and create their own outcomes because of their immaterial mind; The memory and body are what makes a person who they are and without either of them, the same person does not exist; We make our own choices but without others, we would be unable to define ourselves. The Dualist view of human nature is similar to these ideas. Dualism is the “view that human beings are immaterial minds within material bodies.” (Velasquez. p. 105) The man that ran this show was René Descartes (1596-1650). He claimed that if we can conceive of one thing without the other, than they are not the same thing. He used this notion to state that the self and the body are different. From this, it can be reasoned that there is a soul, which endures. Human nature accepts the idea of an immaterial mind and a material body because of the fact that they can be viewed as separate things. In the words of Descartes, body is: …all that which can be defined by a specific shape: something which can be confined in a certain place, and which can fill a given space in such a way that every other body will be excluded from it; which can be perceived either by touch, or by sight, or by hearing, or by taste...
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...Why should someone donate their body to science, subjecting themselves to potential dissections or car crashes and so much more? What purpose is there to willingly allow one’s body to be disrespected? Those are potential questions one against body donations might pose, but I argue differently. Upon death, the cadaver is no longer the person once inhabiting the body. Experimenting or dissecting the cadaver for the betterment of mankind will not hurt them in any way and is not a sign of disrespect towards the person. If I did not qualify for organ donation, I personally would donate my body to science in order to better mankind, as my cadaver otherwise would have no purpose and as I do not perceive a cadaver as the person it once was. A dead, non-motile body has only a few options: rotting in the ground, lying uselessly in ashes in an urn, other methods of burial or...
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...Dawkins’ views on body and soul identity. (35) The mind-body problem is an ongoing problem in the philosophy concerning the nature of the relationship between the mind, or consciousness, and the physical world. It questions how our mental thoughts are linked to our physical activities. In religion and philosophy, the soul is considered the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, which is often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. In theology, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual which is thought to survive the death of the body. However, this view point isn’t taken by all. Viewpoints on the soul can be separated into monism, dualism and materialistic views. Aristotle is a monist believing that the body and soul are not linked, whereas Dawkins is a hard materialist believing that biology is the key. Aristotle defined the soul, or psyche, as the ‘first actuality’ of the body and argued against it having a separate existence from the physical body, unlike other philosophers such as Plato. Aristotle’s belief was that the difference between a live body and a corpse is the presence of the soul. When the soul dies, so does the body. In his book, De Anima he stated that “the soul does not exist without a body and yet is not itself a kind of body. For it is not a body, but something which belongs to a body.” In Aristotle’s view, full actualisation of a living thing is its soul. The soul is the form and shape of the body. Aristotle argued...
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...1 CHAPTER 1: HUMAN NATURE: In this chapter I will explain about Kant by considering his account of human nature as a whole and to examine his account of human nature in general as it emerges in his discussions of the animal and rational natures of the human being including consciousness, self-consciousness, the soul, personality, humanity and character, also the dimensions of what we might call human individuality of human life in relation to the divisions of philosophy. This chapter will therefore provide both a unified survey of Kant's view of human nature, and an introduction to many of the topics which will be considered in greater detail. The Rational Animal: The most direct characterization of human nature in Kant's works appears at the...
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...that the soul is distinct from the body. The claim that the soul is distinct from the body must be rejected on the grounds that our identity, consciousness and reality (soul) is bound and shaped by sense experience. Any reference to a separate metaphysical entity that moulds our individuality is contrary to experience and our mind/soul, as we know it, is the product of the functioning of the brain, a physical thing. As a dualist Plato maintained soul and body are separate entities, the former being immortal whilst the latter mortal. Plato’s understanding of the soul is deeply rooted in his concept of the Forms, arguing that the soul is both ‘simple’ and essential to obtaining knowledge of the Forms. For Plato, the body is an impediment to obtaining true knowledge, a ‘source of endless trouble’ and subject to change, therefore an unreliable guide to truth. The chariot analogy is used to demonstrate the conflicting nature of the body and soul. The soul is compared to a chariot driver attempting to control two horses that pull in different directions, the mind and body. The body consists of desires and emotions that distract humans from the basis of existence, truth. Kenny uses an example of a young child throwing a tantrum to illustrate the disharmony between the soul and body. The desire that causes the tantrum is driven by irrationality, as is the human body. Plato uses the argument from knowledge to substantiate the claim that the body and soul are distinct. He describes...
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...The Story of the Human Body Book Review In the book, “The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease”, Daniel Lieberman applies an overall viewpoint of everything relating to human bodies. He believes that society does not have enough knowledge about human evolution, which is the cause and reason of non-preventable diseases. Daniel Lieberman, describe “mismatch diseases in which the way we live now is different from our ancestors’ era. Daniel Lieberman is a “Human Evolutionary Biologist professor at Harvard University.” As the Harvard Evolutionary Biologist, Daniel Lieberman shows us that we as humans were created to have as many offspring but not to live a hale life. Daniel Lieberman explicates how our bodies are shaped by evolution...
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...Soul of the World What is Soul? "the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal." In some philosophical and religious belief systems, a spiritual principle having the same relation to the physical world as the human soul does to the body. The soul is self, the "I" that occupies the human body and acts through it. Without the soul, the body is like a light bulb without electricity, mobile without camera. Soul gives our body the ability to see, hear, think, talk, emotions, will power, desire, personality and identity. The soul is eternal. It has always existed! It existed long before your birth as a physical human, and will exist forever after your physical death. A physical lifetime is just a blink of the eye; a temporary "soul growth experience". In reality, not only the human beings but every little thing possesses a soul, as do plants and even inanimate objects; every leaf on branches has a soul, and so does every grain of sand. Soul doesn’t only keep us alive but it supports our existence as well. Soul gives meaning and purpose to our existence. God created every soul in a different way, no soul resembles to one another, soul is an 'inner identity'. As you age, your body gets older, weak, tired, but spiritually you don't feel it. You hear people say, " I don't feel 50 years old!" That's because you are feeling your soul. Your soul never ages, get sick, or dies. The 'soul of the world' is according to various systems of thoughts...
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...Organizational Approaches Paper Instructor: Terrasha Rachels There are 7 organizational approaches to studying the human body. The seven organizational approaches consist of planes and directions, body cavities, quadrants and regions, anatomy and physiology, microscopic and macroscopic, body systems and medical specialties. The body planes and body direction is the division of the body in to sections from front to back, right and left, and top and bottom. These sections are called the mid sagittal plane, the coronal plane, and the transverse plane. There are two main cavities; “Dorsal and ventral body cavities”. Based on Bite Anti Body Research, Some anatomical references do not recognize the dorsal body cavity but we will use it in this example because it is use by some professionals and colleges. Dorsal body cavity protects organs in our nervous system and dorsal body cavity has 2 divisions which is cranial which works around the brains and spinal which works around the spinal cord. With Ventral the superior division is called the thoracic cavity. The thoracic cavity is surrounded by the ribs and muscles in the chest. It’s further subdivided into lateral pleural cavities (each pleural cavity envelopes a lung) and the mediastinum. Within The pericardial cavity lies within the mediastinum. Quadrants are divides our bodies into regions for diagnostic and descriptive purposes. The quadrants are defined by drawing an imaginary line vertically (top to bottom) and horizontally (sideways)...
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...Plato Review Plato’s distinction between body and soul in the foundation unit so that you can make comparisons with the thinking of Hick and of Dawkins. John Hick Philosophy of Religion (1973); Death and Eternal Life (1976) • The soul is a name for the moral, spiritual self formed by the interaction of genes and environment. The human is a psychophysical person with a divine purpose. • The person shall be resurrected through a divine act of recreation or reconstitution in resurrection, rather than reincarnation as Plato would have it, through God’s creative love. • The new body is not the old one brought back to life but a spiritual body inhabiting a spiritual world just as the physical body inhabited a physical world. • Hick conducts a thought experiment with a hypothetical person called John Smith. Smith disappears from the USA and reappears in Calcutta, India. He is physically identical with the same memories, emotions, fingerprints, and so on. People would agree he was Smith. If he died and reappeared in this world, again identical, people would agree he was Smith. If he died and reappeared in another world with other resurrected people, he would be Smith. This is called the replica theory. • God is not restricted by death and holds man beyond natural mortality. • Martin Luther wrote: Anyone with whom God speaks, whether in wrath or mercy, the same is certainly immortal.’ Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene (1976); River out of Eden (1986);The Blind Watchmaker...
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...In your own words, describe how the human skeleton supports the human body. The human skeleton is the framework of the human body. It supports the softer tissues, provides points of attachment for most skeletal muscles and protects many vital organs. It also maintains the body’s’ shape. The skeleton is made up of bones that can be categorised according to one of five functions that they perform; • Shape and support; The skeleton provides the shape and support that gives the body its shape. As well as providing gravitational support, it supports the softer tissues and provides points of attachments for most skeletal muscle. • Movement; Some bones provide leverage for movement. Most of the bones are connected to other bones at flexible joints, which allow the skeletal framework a high degree of flexibility and movement. The bones are attached to tendons of the skeletal muscle and the ligaments of the joints. They then act as levers and pulleys to aid the contraction of the skeletal muscles into movement. • Protection; The skeleton provides protection for the body’s vital organs, reducing risk of injury to them. Blood production; Red blood cells and some white blood cells are manufactured by the bone marrow which is found in the cavities of some of the larger bones. Haematopoiesis is the formation of blood cells. This normally takes place in the red marrow of the bones. Each bone consists of a compact outer shell and a spongy centre. The centre contains the bone marrow which...
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...his last days and arguing with friends if he should escape or not. We will get to look at though the worldview analysis Socrates findings of his years searching and his personal view portrayed by ones around him. Condition Bodily Attachment Socrates believes the human problem is inside us ourselves. We are all souls inhibiting bodies and Socrates states that the body is our problem. “So long as we keep to the body and our soul is contaminated with this imperfection, there is no chance of our ever attaining satisfactorily to our object, which we assert to be Truth.” (Phaedo 66b) He talks about how the body is in desire of riches, cloths, and ornaments then argues if the soul needs all those things. The body is distracting us from the truth. Socrates believes that death is the solution to all. He states, “I fancy that this (death) will help us to find out the answer to our problem. (Phaedo 64d) I agree with Socrates because I believe we have a soul as well and it continues after death. The body needs the soul as much as the soul needs the body though and because no one is positive about death and us continuing we do our part to keep the body alive as well. Misology Socrates also states that the human condition is caused by bad experiences that ruin everyone’s look on life. “Misanthropy is induced by believing in somebody quite uncritically. You assume that a person is absolutely truthful and sincere and reliable, and a little later you find that he is shoddy and...
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...Bre Patrick Period: 7 Honors Anatomy December 4, 2014 1. What is the purpose of skin? What functions does it serve? How does it serve these functions? The purpose of skin is to protect the organs inside the body. The functions of skin is protection, excretion, maintence, synthesis, storage, and detection. Protection underlying tissues and organs against shocks, absorption and chemical attack. Excretion of salts, water and organic wastes by integumentary glands. Maintence of normal body temperature through either insulation or evaporative cooling, as needed. Synthesis of Vitamin D3, a steroid that is subsequently converted to the hormone calcitriol, important to normal calcium metabolism. Storage of nutrients. Lipids are stored in adipocytes in the dermis and in adipose tissue in the subcutaneous layer. Detection of touch, pressure, pain, and temperature stimuli and the relay of that information to the nervous system. 2. What are five layers of the skin? Describe each. There are actually three layers to the skin; The Epidermis, The Dermis, and the Subcutaneous Fat Layer. However there are five skin layers that take place in the epidermis. * The Epidermis: provides mechanical protection and helps keep microorganisms outside the body. * Stratum Spinosum: the outermost epidermis layer that protects against foreign materials and to produce and retain moisture, which it does through a series of cellular-level interactions and interchanges. *...
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...compare and contrast it with Descartes’ concept of mind. In order to understand Aristotle’s concepts of mind, I shall consider Aristotle’s De Anima, in which Aristotle mostly concentrates on soul/mind discussion. I will examine the work of Kahn and Sorabji, who both considered Aristotle’s and Descartes’ philosophy in relation to soul and body problem. In order to compare Aristotle’s concept of mind with Descartes’, I am going to introduce Descartes’ most famous philosophical work which involves the question of mind directly, namely hisMeditations. …………………………. …………………………… ………………………………. If we look at Aristotle’s De Anima we can understand that pre-Aristotle thinkers were already concerned with corporeal and incorporeal problems. For example, for Plato soul was an ‘incorporeal’ and immortal thing, but body corporeal and mortal. The first impression we get from reading De Anima is that the mind and body problem was unsolved. Perhaps the resolved problem didn’t satisfy Aristotle. Aristotle claims that an incorporeal thing cannot exist without a corporeal thing. Aristotle’s new theory for solving soul and body problems makes controversial debate among most post-Aristotelian philosophers. Rene Descartes was one of them who rejected the Aristotelian concept of mind in which corporeal and incorporeal things exist together. For Descartes, corporeal and incorporeal things exist separately. In order to verify his argument he introduced a new concept...
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...all be all to our society. It is unlikely that we will do anything unless it makes us happy. Because happiness and its definition are so widely debated and thought provoking, it is no wonder that a mind such as Aristotle undertakes the task of writing about happiness. What we come to find in Book One Nicomachean Ethics is that Aristotle ultimately defines happiness as function. However, in this definition comes two major questions: Why does function equate to happiness and how can we even be sure that humans have a function? In this essay I will prove that happiness is the end that human function strives towards, and, by showing why Aristotle’s argument does not evoke the fallacy of composition, that humans...
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