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Self death and the afterlife - Coggle Diagram
Self death and the afterlife
Descartes' first proof
Argument from doubt
You can doubt your body exists, but you cannot doubt that you are a thinking thing
Therefore, you are not identical with the body
Descartes' second proof
Argument from divisibility and non-divisibility
All bodies are extended in space and therefore divisible
All minds are not extended in space and therefore not divisible
Therefore, minds are radically different from bodies
Descartes' third proof
Argument from clear and distinct perception
Whatever can be clearly perceived as two different things can be created by God as two different things
I have a clear distinct idea of my mind as a non-extended thing
So I and my body can exist separate from each other
I am distnct from my body
Dualism
Philosophy that affirms there are two types of substance, physical and spiritual
The mind is non-physical
The body is physical and made up of matter
Dual-aspect monism
Theory that mind and matter are two aspects of the same underlying reality, which is neither mental nor physical
Monism - only one underlying reality
Mind and matter are not two separate substances
One aspect of the mind is qualia
The other aspect of the mind is third person objective experience
e.g could give someone a CT scan and observe brain waves whilst they play the violin
Qualia
Subjective experience of "what it's like to be conscious" Cannot be explained physically
First person subjective experience. What it's like to play an instrument or write a poem
Rene Descartes
Cartesian dualism
Rene
Believed the mind and body are distinct substances with different essential properties
Plato
3rd century BC Greek Philosopher
Theory of the forms
The self is contained witihn the soul and will be released at death