Dualism (Identity)

by David Turell , Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 19:21 (1654 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: More confusion. The brain never thinks by itself without the soul/essence actually doing it by use of the brain's neuronal networks.

dhw: Why do you keep adding to the confusion with these nebulous constructions? “Never thinks without…suggests that it only thinks with…So it only thinks if the soul actually thinks. This is just as confusing as the “thinking networks” which don’t think! Let’s try once more: The dualist’s soul does the thinking and uses the brain – but this is what I keep trying to pin down: WHAT does the soul use the brain’s neuronal networks for (and why can’t you just say “brain”)?

How can I be any clearer? The soul can only think by using the brain networks assigned to producing thought during life. The brain alone can never produce thoughts by itself. The soul is therefore the originating cause of the thought appearing.

dhw: You clearly agree now with the uses I have listed, so all you’ve added is “having to”. Fine. So I agree that it HAS to use the brain in life – a) for information, and b) to give material expression to its thoughts and concepts. Now that you have discarded the materialist concept of the brain’s “THINKING network”, I can’t see any disagreement between us.

DAVID: The brain has networks that are specifically used for thinking up concepts. I simple called those 'thinking networks' to name them, not to imply they think by themselves. You interpret what I write in a strange overly literal way.

dhw: You have now agreed that the dualist’s soul uses the brain in the ways described and bolded above. The dualist’s brain does not think. So just drop the highly ambiguous term “thinking networks”, and we shall be in complete agreement. The implications are best left to the “brain expansion” thread, and this one can be closed unless you actually disagree with my summary of the way the soul uses the brain.

I agree and think the above discussion ends the debate. The brain actually has areas which have networks for conceptualizing which I labeled as above. Sorry to confuse you, but they exist.