II. THE MATTER OF DUALISM

Descartes, the French mathematician, scientist and philosopher, advocated the concept that the (i) human mind (0r soul) and the (ii) human body are made of different substances: a duality of functioning.

While it seemed apparent that the mind and the body interact, Descartes was at a loss to know how connection between the two 'substances' occurred; but he speculated that the mid-line pineal gland in the skull somehow accomplished this.

During the second half of the 20th century, the matter of dualism has been re-addressed in the fields of poetry, philosophy and neurology.

In the poem/song Closing Time, Leonard Cohen describes, "...your body's really you."

In his book Consciousness Explained, the philosopher, Daniel C. Dennett describes human functioning as occurring without any "Cartesian theater" inside the brain where you or I are 'sitting' and (a) 'watching' what our eyes have detected and (b) 'pushing buttons' or 'pulling levers' to make our limbs and fingers move, etc. One's body/somatic functioning is one's consciousness. (Without body, there is no mind/soul!)

Gilbert Ryle, in his earlier book, The Concept of Mind, carefully and elaborately describes how a person mis-perceives his/her sensations, memories and consciousness as being independent of his/her body - a "ghost in the machine".

From a neurological perspective, Antonio Damasio's Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain draws asexual neurophysiological conclusions regarding the mind-body problem in terms of the basic structures and states associated with life. But he notes (p.190): "...the explanation of how mind and brain are related becomes more difficult when the brain-part of the body is divorced from the body-proper. Regrettably, this dualistic frame still works like a screen and does not let us see what is clearly in front of our eyes--namely the body in its broadest sense, and its relevance to the making of the mind."

Yet Damasio quotes Spinoza: "...the human mind is the idea of the human body."

Damasio's "screen" that "...does not let us see what is clearly in front of our eyes..." may be the sameness doctrine of 'political-correctness' - see Critique of Political-Correctness post # III.

Also, Damasio's "divorce" of "the brain part of the body" from "the body proper" is, merely, a kind of fiction. It is quite arbitrary to believe that the neurological apparatus located within the skull is essentially different than the network of nerve cells spread throughout "the body proper" (similarly the integratd hypophyseal-pituitary hormonal system does not distinguish between "brain part" and "body proper"). What is within the skull is simply a fantastically elaborate 'switching' system that mediates and moderates the interaction between sensory input and motor output.

The human being (and other animals) thinks and remembers with its whole neuronal and hormonal system. Surely, an accomplished pianist does not have his/her skill localized to the part of 'the brain' within his/her skull. He/she remembers how to perform a piece of music with his/her whole body - especially his/her arms and fingers.

But lack of a functional boundary between "brain part" and "body proper" entails that the highly innervated and anatomically different (complementary) procreational genitalia of a male and a female tend to produce heterosexually different (complementary) thoughts, emotions, and decision-making processes - a violation of the 'sameness' doctrine of 'political-correctness.