Since the earliest times man has believed in some form of dualism[1] - that as well as the physical, there might be some non-physical realm wherein might dwell angels, devils, gods, spirits of the dead etc. Socrates[2] had a version of this theme with his idea of the “realm of the forms”[3]. Since then all manner of heavens, hells and astral planes[4] have been devised. It is almost as if man has an almost pathological need to assert for himself some non-material existence. This was brought to a more manageable and fundamental level in the 17 th century by René Descartes, who, in his skeptical investigations as to what he could be certain of, concluded famously, that the occurrence of thought guarantees the existence of a thinker[5], this was summarised as “Cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am). An almost inevitable conclusion from this is, if we accept that physical universe exists[6], is that “what is” consists of at least three categories - the physical, thought and thinkers. From an empirical viewpoint these this are self evidently true and can be experienced by anyone who cares to look.
The Thinker
Lets not get hung up at this point as to whether there is actually is such a thing as a “thinker”; irrespective of all arguments to the contrary, for most people, the experience is that there is a thinker, and we/they are it. It does not matter whether the thinker is a process – some sort of product of certain configurations of matter, or a separate immaterial substance, the important thing is that however much we search among the particles of matter[7], no thinker or thought can be found; it is “as if” we the thinkers and our though are something separate from the physical universe, as indeed they are from the view point of normal physical detection methods.
The Thought
Under the category of though we have our actual thoughts and concepts, whether these be about things existing in the physical universe or thoughts about thoughts or other abstractions. Other obvious contenders for this immaterial thought category are all knowledge, understanding, meaning, considerations, beliefs, interpretation, agreement, emotion[8], feeling, purpose[9], aspiration, desires, aesthetics, affinity, communication[10], in fact all of the things generally most valued and meaningful in human life[11] – none of these things can be found among the particles of matter, all of them require the presents of a “consciousness unit”[12] capable of perception, consideration and evaluation for their existence. It is hard to imagine how there could be any of these significances without someone there to give them meaning. So some how our "thinker" creates or adds significance to matter as well as creating abstract ideas and thought of all kinds.
Are All “What is” Equal ?
Of course, as with any philosophical speculations, we are using our language, our definitions and our thoughts (i.e. our own creations) to represent the different aspects of these arguments and our mental representations do not necessarily represent exactly what is. In the material realm “what is” is testable and is the reality much agreed upon by everyone, it generally follows known laws, which appear to be the same everywhere, and can be dealt with in a mechanical manner. The thought category seems to have a different set of laws and methods of operation which I will explore in a future article.
Summary
We have then, from the experience perspective, ourselves - the "I", the ego, the life unit, personal consciousness, the thing we generally think of a "me" somehow involved in matter[13] in the form of a body, which to a large degree we are in control of. This life unit generates knowledge by recombining images and conclusions about experience and perceptions, by creating interpretations of experiences and observations, and by original mental creations.
Comments & suggestions welcolme.
Rod
[1] The term "Dualism" was originally coined by Thomas Hyde around the beginning of the eighteenth century. As a metaphysical theory, dualism states that the world is made up of two elemental categories which are incommensurable.
[2] Socrates (469-399), despite his status as a foundational figure in the history of ideas, actually wrote nothing. Most of our knowledge of him comes from the works of Plato (427-347), and since Plato had other concerns in mind than simple historical accuracy it is usually impossible to determine how much of his thinking actually derives from Socrates.
[3] For Plato the world of the Forms is "really real" world; the world that we perceive with our senses is little more than an imitation of this ultimate reality. He believes that for particular and imperfect thing that exists in the sensible realm (a table, a just act, a beautiful model, a circle) there is a corresponding absolute and perfect Form (Table, Justice, Beauty, a Circle).
[4] Astral Plane is an idea from occultism suggesting that there exists a plane, or level of energy and existence, between the Mental and the Physical Planes .
[5] The existence of a thinker, an individual consciousness of some kind and what it means, is considered to be one of the “hard” problems of philosophy. David Chalmers website is one of the best resources on the philosophy of mind on the web and well worth checking out if you are interest in this subject.
[6] Although most of us would agree that the physical universe does exist, there are opinions that deny this. George Berkeley (1685-1753) one of the three most famous eighteenth century British Empiricists who was consecrated Bishop of Cloyne in St. Paul’s Church, Dublin, on 19 May 1734. Held that ordinary objects are only collections of ideas, which are mind-dependent. Berkeley was an immaterialist and held that there are no material substances. There are only finite mental substances and an infinite mental substance, viz., God.
[7] There is speculation that the extra dimensions postulated by string theory may hold some relevance to the problems of mind and though.
[8] Emotion has been described as simply some form of hormone or chemical change in the body, however even the most superficial examination will show that in most cases chemistry changes occur after some perception or consideration, in other words mental changes cause the emotional reaction. Also many people have the ability to “generate” emotion – a particular useful ability for those in the acting business.
[9] Purpose can certainly be generated by an individual for himself and others. It appears that life as whole has a built in purpose to survive, whether matter has a similar built in purpose is a matter of speculation.
[10] Communication could be considered to be a purely material thing consisting only of energy or particles moving across space, however meaningful communication also requires the presence of a thinker.
[11] We can say a lot about human thought, reactions and preferences from direct experience and from survey. Animal researches and our common experience seem to indicate that many animals share at least some of our mental facilities.
[12] The concept of an individual awareness unit is one of the most difficult. The subjective experience seems to suggest that it is some sort of recursive process e.g. we perceive a cat and examining this we find that we perceive that we perceive a cat and, at the same time find no “we/I” present as a separate object. In fact, in many respect the "I" seems to be a nothing. It could be that what we consider to be "I" is only some sort of by-product of the matter of the brain, but it does not really matter whether it is or not, the important thing is that whatever this elusive personal identity is, it is certainly the creator of meaning. In my consideration of the "life unit" I have reduced it to a simplicity whereas psychology suggests that it in not simply one thing, and that there are "unconscious" parts and processes.
[13] It is "as if" "life" organizes matter for its own use as a body and when this organization fails sufficiently we have death.