Dualism (Identity)

by dhw, Friday, May 15, 2020, 11:56 (1652 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: What do you mean by “the brain networks assigned to producing thought”? You keep coming up with these nebulous terms instead of sticking to the concrete terms you have actually agreed to! The dualist’s brain networks do not “produce thought”. But yes, the soul produces thought. bbThe dualist’s brain provides the information and gives material expression to the thought (or, if you like, gives the thought its material appearance).bb

DAVID: Once again, the soul, in life, can only produce/initiate thought by using the brain's living thought networks, which are assigned to frontal and pre-frontal cortex regions, as you should remember.

It’s not “once again”. You keep changing the terminology. We’ve had “thinking networks”, and “networks assigned to producing thought”. You keep agreeing that the soul uses the brain (or the brain’s networks, if you must – and these include the frontal and pre-frontal cortex) to produce its thoughts. You’ve agreed on HOW it uses these networks (information and material expression/implementation of its thoughts), so why can’t you leave it at that?

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.

DAVID: 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.

dhw: You agree, and then once again you insist on muddying the waters! The dualist’s brain does not conceptualize, so how can it have networks for conceptualizing? […] If you think the brain has networks for conceptualizing – as it may well do – you are switching to materialism!

DAVID: All brain studies have found areas assigned to different tasks and different functions, the material side of the dualist theory.

If you assign conceptualizing to the brain, you are siding with materialists (and that may well be right. I am not taking sides.). Stop muddying the waters!

DAVID: The simplest summary is: the living soul initiates thought by using living brain networks, and I agree gets its info from the brain receiving stimuli.

Well, at least you’ve now dropped your materialist thinking, thought-producing, conceptualizing brain networks. I’m surprised that you don’t include the soul’s vital use of the brain to give material expression to its thoughts. And I don’t know why you use the word “initiate”, since the soul will continue to develop its thoughts and will continue to use the brain to gather information and express or implement its thoughts and concepts. But since you’ve already agreed to what I wrote originally, I think we should close the discussion – at least until the next time you produce a materialist version of your dualism.