- Mind and matter separate – dualism
- Not separate – monism
- Plato – soul (psyche) trapped in body (soma) at birth released upon death
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What is soul?
- immortal
- function is to do well – to attain higher plane of existence
- partly divine and can recognise the divine
- Soul three parts – (i) honourable (ii) selfish (iii) the arbiter!
- essential I
- ultimate cause of voluntary actions or decisions
- it is what animates; the difference between the living and the dead person
- Descartes – Res cogitans and Res extensa
- Identity theory – memory, pain personality all just physical processes in the brain – excitation of neurons!
- But doesn’t explain creativity, morality
- Soul is an example of one of Plato’s ideal forms
- Proof of the existence of a higher plane. But in his view there was no deity to placate or be good for – just the good of one’s own soul.
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