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What Is Mind

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Submitted By tmosley
Words 1179
Pages 5
PHI130 10-17-2011

Abstract
In the present paper, the issue of mind is discussed in the framework of mind/body problem. While in the times of Aristotle and Plato it was named differently and explained through objects materiality and soul divinity, the modern perception of the same correlation was emphasized by Descartes as body/mind problem. In the present paper, the essence of the problem is outlined in the context of one of the modern philosophies of mind, meaning physicalism. The main aims of this essay is to identify the corner stone of physicalist concept, its main supporting and opposing arguments, and distinguish which position is the strongest one and understand the reason why.
Key words: physicalism, body/mind problem, knowledge, exclusion, consciousness.

What is mind?
In the history of human thought, there were various dilemmas which the brightest minds of their times were trying to solve and which remained enigmas until our times. The mind/body problem is one of those issues. While, in times of Aristotle and Plato, it was named differently and explained through the objects materiality and soul divinity, the modern perception of the same correlation was shaped by Descartes as body/mind problem. In the present paper, the essence of the problem is explained in the context of one of the modern philosophies of mind, meaning physicalism. The main aims of this essay is to identify the corner stone of physicalist concept, its main supporting and opposing arguments, and distinguish which argument is the strongest and why.
First of all, it is worth to identify what Descartes meant by body/mind problem. According to his argument, mental phenomena or results of mind activity are usually different from the physical phenomena and human body’s perception of them and itself (Jaworski, 2011). Subsequently, the problem is that the connection between mind’s

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