Ghost in the Machine: Is there a soul?

Gilbert Ryles coined the term "Ghost in the Machine" in reference to Rene Descartes's writings on mind-body dualism. In light of Thunderf00t recent debate and statements on the soul, and the response to it by the worst witness for Jesus ever, VenomFangX, I wanted to do a little exploring on the issue.

I want to hear other people's reasoned opinions on the topic as well. Does a soul exist? Is the mind separate from the brain? Please leave your thoughts in the comments. Try to be civil : )

I'm a molecular biologist, not a cognitive scientist or philosopher, so my understanding of the topic will necessarily be colored by my educational background, and probably incomplete.

"There is a doctrine about the nature and place of the mind which is prevalent among theorists, to which most philosophers, psychologists and religious teachers subscribe with minor reservations. Although they admit certain theoretical difficulties in it, they tend to assume that these can be overcome without serious modifications being made to the architecture of the theory."

Ryle believes that the central principles of the doctrine are unsound and conflict with the entire body of what we know about the mind. "With the doubtful exceptions of the mentally-incompetent and infants-in-arms, every human being has both a body and a mind. The body and the mind are ordinarily harnessed together, but after the death of the body, tradition holds that the mind continues to exist and function. According to the official doctrine each person has direct and unchangeable cognisance. In consciousness, self-consciousness and introspection, he is directly and authentically apprised of the present states of operation of the mind."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Ryle

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Soul
• Mind
• Brain
• Duality
• Philosophy
• Descartes
• Materialism
• Pearlism
• Transcendentalism
• Cognitive
• science
• fMRI
• emergent
• property
• eternal
• immaterial
• religion
• atheism
• agnosticism

[gogolplex74]

what keeps you alive? soul? electricity?

[C0nc0rdance]

@gogolplex74

Respiration. Metabolism. Neural activity. Chemical potentials. Oxygen, food, water, a beating heart.

Perhaps a will to live?

[Robin90modell]

@ramik81

or maybe because there are no scientific proof?

A big problem lies in the belief that the a soul is non-material, and the belief that this also means that it's non-physical. We can scan a brain, and simulate it. If this responds to stimuli just like a real person, then we can say that all our actions, thinking, decisions and so on is caused by the neuron network, and not because of a soul's intervention. Consciousness can be seen as a "phenomena".

[opinionsofallkind]

I believe that when we are dead it will be the same as before we were born. And death can't be a bad thing because it's something that's something we all are giong to face.

So if everybody does it (die) it can't be bad for you. :-))

[PotentialSeffectS]

i guess we will all find out eventually since death is the great equalizer. I wonder if we will be self-aware after death or will we be just nothingness with no thought, sight, or any other senses for all eternity. If there is no god and soul then an eternal nothing sleep awaits us all its kind of a scary thought but i guess it wont matter after we die. I hope sincerely hope there is a God.

[alqammd]

We're born, we live, and then we die. End of story

[eatshitgoogle]

@elsiebea So by your own take on the matter, whether the patient gets actually treated is inconsequential as long as the procedure meets the patient's beliefs.

Maybe burn some nearby witch who might be the cause?

[olywood9]

Proving the soul (in the sense of public evidence) probably isnt possible, non the less, I think it would be possible to seek out *private* evidence for its existence. in practice this would mean pursuing mystic practice or drugs to induce an NDE. Assuming you did achieve your goal of experiencing yourself as an eternal soul however, the question then would be; "how do I know I wasnt hallucinating?" You wouldnt.

[olywood9]

.. But since you dont know youre not hallucinating right now, it would probably be little more than common prejudice against the uncommon experience to deny full transcendence on these grounds alone. 

[ramik81]

Just as religion held science back for centuries for considering any studies that went against their dogmas as hierarchy. Right now the reason there is no scientific proof of a soul is because no one wants to go down that line of study and become ridiculed by the scientific community.

[ramik81]

Honestly, I don't think we live in the right era to really understand and explore this topic. We have scientist today that like to think they have solved all of the universes mysteries, and there is also what I like to call a cold war going on between science and religion. Science blaming religion for irrational ideas having held humanity back for centuries (Dark Ages). So any hypothesis into matters of metaphysics is quickly denied and considered absurd.

[ebertlike]

Soul is what I dont know...