Philosphy second exam pt.1

Substance dualism

Qualia

are the subjective, first-person experiences of conscious perception — essentially, what it "feels like" to experience something.

• Examples: the redness of red, the taste of chocolate, or the pain of a headache.

The Knowledge Argument

Thought experiment:
Mary is a brilliant scientist who knows all the physical facts about color vision, but she has lived her whole life in a black-and-white room.

• One day, she leaves the room and sees red for the first time.

• Even though she already knew every physical fact about color, she learns something new: what red looks like—she gains knowledge of the qualia of red.

conclusion for the Knowledge argument

Conclusion/Goal:

• There are facts about consciousness (qualia) that cannot be captured by physical science.

• This supports substance dualism or at least challenges physicalism, because it suggests that mental states (like seeing red) are not fully explainable in physical terms.

The Zombie Argument

• Imagine a copy of you—same body, same brain, same behavior.

  • It smiles when happy, cries when sad, says “ouch” when hurt.

  • It even says it feels things.

• But there’s a catch:
  This copy of you doesn’t actually feel anything inside.

  • No pain, no joy, no thoughts—just empty.

  • It’s like a robot that acts human but has no inner life.

• This kind of being is called a philosophical zombie—not a movie zombie, but a perfectly functioning body with no consciousness.

• Now ask yourself:

  "Can I imagine something like that?"

  If yes, then it shows that:

  • The physical body and brain are not enough to explain consciousness.

  • There must be something extra—something non-physical—that gives you inner experience.

Conclusion to zombie argument

• If a being could exist with your exact body and brain but without feeling or awareness, then your consciousness must be more than just physical stuff.
  That’s why this supports dualism—the idea that your mind (or soul) is different from your body.

what the knowledge/zombie argument aim to Both arguments aim to show that

Both arguments aim to show that:

• Consciousness has features (qualia) that can’t be explained just by brain activity or physical facts.

• Therefore, physicalism is incomplete, and some form of dualism (like substance dualism) might be necessary to fully explain the mind.

Dualism

Dualism is the idea that a person is made of two kinds of things:

1. Body – physical stuff (your brain, your arms, etc.)

2. Mind or Soul – non-physical stuff (your thoughts, feelings, consciousness)

So dualism says:

"You're not just a body—you also have a non-physical mind or soul."

Substance Dualism

Substance dualism is a specific version of dualism. It says:

• There are two separate substances that make up a person:

  1. A physical substance (your body/brain)

  2. A non-physical substance (your soul or mind)

These two are distinct but connected—they interact, but they’re not the same thing.

Personal identity is the question: What makes you the same person over time?

Substance dualism says:

• Your true identity is in your soul or mind, not your body.

• Even if your body changes (aging, injury, etc.), or even if your brain is damaged, you are still you because your soul stays the same.

• So, personal identity is tied to the continuity of the soul, not the body or brain.

Substance Dualism and Personal Identity

Personal identity is the question: What makes you the same person over time?

Substance dualism says:

• Your true identity is in your soul or mind, not your body.

• Even if your body changes (aging, injury, etc.), or even if your brain is damaged, you are still you because your soul stays the same.

• So, personal identity is tied to the continuity of the soul, not the body or brain.

Example:

Imagine your body is destroyed in an accident, but your soul continues:

• According to substance dualism, you still exist—because your soul is the real “you.”

Chinese Room Thought Experiment

The Scenario (in simple terms):

1. Imagine a person (who doesn’t understand Chinese) is sitting alone in a room.

2. Outside the room, people slip in questions written in Chinese.

3. Inside the room, the person uses a giant rulebook (in English) to look up how to respond to each Chinese character.

4. They use the rules to pick out the correct Chinese symbols and pass back perfectly written Chinese responses—without ever understanding what any of it means.

what the Chinese room thought experiment aims to show

Even though the person inside the room is giving correct answers, they:

• Don’t understand Chinese,

• Have no awareness of what the words mean.

This is like a computer:

• It takes inputs (words), follows programmed rules, and gives outputs.

• But it doesn’t understand the meaning behind the words—it’s just processing symbols.

If a machine can act like it understands but doesn’t really understand, then:

• The mind isn’t just the brain doing calculations.

• There must be something more—like conscious experience, understanding, or even a soul.

• That’s why this supports dualism (mind and body are separate) or other non-physicalist views.

Main Claims of Substance Dualism

Substance dualism says that a human person is made of two distinct substances:

1. A physical body – made of matter

2. A non-physical mind or soul – not made of matter, and not part of the physical world

Key Claims:

• The mind/soul can exist independently of the body.

• The real "you" is the soul, not the body.

• The body is temporary; the soul is essential and may be immortal.

• Mind and body can interact, but they are not the same kind of thing.

pure substance dualism

• You are just a soul.

• The body is not part of your true identity.

• You might have a body temporarily, but you could still exist without it.

Identity = Soul only
🧍‍♂ Body is more like a tool or vehicle, not part of you.

Think of a driver and a car: the car can be replaced or lost, but the driver (the soul) is still the same person.

Compound dualism

Compound substance dualism says:

• You are made of both soul and body together.

• Both are essential parts of what makes you you.

• You wouldn’t be the same person without your body.

Identity = Soul + Body together
🧍‍♂ The body is an essential part of the person, not just a container.

Think of a cake: flour and eggs together make the cake—take one away and it’s not the same thing.

What Are Souls Like (According to Substance Dualists)?

Souls are:

• Non-physical: They aren’t made of atoms or located in space the way bodies are.

• Simple (not made of parts): Unlike the body, which can be divided, a soul can’t be split into smaller pieces.

• Conscious: The soul is the seat of thoughts, feelings, and awareness.

• Capable of free will: Souls can make choices that aren’t fully determined by physical causes.

• Moral agents: Souls are responsible for actions and can be judged morally (e.g. good or bad).

• Possibly immortal: Since they’re non-physical, many substance dualists believe souls can survive after the body dies.

Main Features of Souls in Substance Dualism

Feature	Description
Consciousness	The soul is what makes us aware, able to feel, think, and experience qualia.
Free Will	Souls are not bound by physical laws and can make real, undetermined choices.
Unity of Self	The soul provides a single, continuous identity through time (even if the body changes).
Non-physical	The soul doesn’t take up space or have mass. It’s different from the body.
Persistence	The soul can exist even when the body dies—this supports beliefs in life after death.
Agency	The soul is the true “doer” behind decisions and actions, not just the brain.

How does substance dualism understand the relationship between soul and body?

According to substance dualists:

• The soul is the real self—the part that thinks, feels, and makes choices.

• The body is the physical vehicle—what the soul uses to interact with the world.

• Even though they are different in nature (non-physical vs physical), they are connected and work together.

---

How Do They Relate? 1. Interaction

• The soul and body affect each other.

  • Your soul decides to raise your hand → your body moves.

  • You stub your toe → your soul feels pain.

This is sometimes called interactionist dualism.

2. Unity of the Person

• You are one person made of two parts:

  • A soul (thinking, feeling, willing)

  • A body (breathing, walking, eating)

• Together, they form a complete human being.

3. Dependence in This Life

• The soul depends on the body to express itself (e.g., talking, moving).

• But the soul could survive without the body (like in an afterlife), according to many substance dualists.

🧍‍♂ Example:

Think of the soul as the driver and the body as the car:

• They’re different kinds of things.

• The driver controls the car, but isn’t part of it.

• If the car breaks down, the driver still exists.

1.1 what is the fission case

Imagine this:

• Your brain is split in two, and each half is put into a new body.

• Both new people act like you, remember your past, have your personality, etc.

• So now there are two people, both claiming to be you.

This is a fission case—one person seems to become two.

The Problem for Physicalist Theories:

If personal identity is based only on the brain or psychological continuity, then:

• Which one is really you?

• They both have equal claim—same memories, same personality.

• But you can’t be both, because they are now two separate people.

So physical or psychological continuity alone can’t fully explain identity.

1.2 How does Richard Swinburne use fission cases to argue for soul theory?

Swinburne argues:

• What makes you you is not just your body or your brain—it’s your soul.

• The soul is indivisible—it can’t be split like the brain can.

• In a fission case, only one of the new people could have your original soul.

• So only one person would really be you—the one who has your soul.

Why This Supports Soul Theory:

Swinburne says:

• The soul gives us a way to preserve identity even in weird cases like fission.

• Without the soul, we can’t make sense of personal identity in these situations.

• Therefore, a non-physical soul must exist, and it's essential to who we are.

Why might the fact that souls are invisible and untraceable pose a problem for substance dualism?

The Problem: Souls Are Invisible and Untraceable

Substance dualists claim that:

• The soul is real, and it causes things (like thoughts, actions, decisions).

• But the soul is non-physical—you can't see it, touch it, measure it, or detect it with any scientific tools.

This leads to a big challenge:

Scientific/Philosophical Objection:

If souls are invisible and undetectable, how do we know they exist or do anything?

Problems that arise:

1. No evidence: We can't observe souls directly, so there's no clear proof they’re real.

2. No testable predictions: You can’t design an experiment to detect or measure a soul’s activity.

3. Interaction mystery: How can something non-physical (the soul) interact with something physical (the brain/body)? There’s no clear mechanism.

   • This is often called the “interaction problem.”

---

Example:

If someone raises their hand, we can see their brain send signals to their muscles. But substance dualists say the soul is behind the decision—yet we can’t trace how the soul causes the brain to act.

Why This Is a Problem:

In science and philosophy, we usually:

• Rely on observable evidence

• Prefer simpler explanations (Occam’s Razor)

Since the soul can’t be observed or measured, many critics say it’s an unnecessary explanation—we might as well just explain everything in terms of the brain and body.

The Mind-Body Interaction Problem for substance dualism

This is the classic objection to dualism. It asks:

How can something non-physical (like a soul) cause changes in something physical (like the body)?

Example:

• You (a soul) decide to raise your hand.

• Somehow, that non-physical decision makes physical neurons fire, and your hand moves.

But how can a non-material thing (soul) interact with a material body if they are completely different kinds of substances?

This is like asking:

How could a ghost push a brick wall?

There’s no clear mechanism to explain how this could work.

the pairing problem for substance dualism

The question is:

• If souls exist, how does your soul end up with your body?

• Why doesn’t your soul control someone else’s body?

The problem is:

• Souls (if they exist) aren’t physical things you can point to or place somewhere.

• So, there’s no clear reason or rule for why a soul goes with one body instead of another.

• It asks:

Even if souls could interact with bodies, how does a particular soul get paired with a particular body?

In a world with many souls and many bodies, why does your soul control your body and not someone else’s?

There's no obvious spatial or physical connection that "pairs" them, because souls are not in space (according to many dualists). So what determines which soul gets linked to which body?

How are the mind body interaction problem and he pairing problem differ?

How Are They Different?

Problem	Focuses On	Key Question
Interaction Problem	The possibility of interaction	How can a non-physical soul cause physical effects?
Pairing Problem	The specificity of interaction	Why does this soul control this body and not another one?

• Interaction problem = How does soul-body interaction work at all?

• Pairing problem = Why is each soul connected to a specific body?