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Single Idea 3911

[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 2. Interactionism ]

Full Idea

It is often held to be a consequence of the rationalist conception of substance, that separate substances cannot interact (since causal interaction is a form of mutual dependence).

Clarification

'Substances' are thought of as the underlying basis of existence and identity

Gist of Idea

The very concept of a substance denies the possibility of mutual interaction and dependence

Source

Roger Scruton (Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey [1994], Ch.16 n)

Book Ref

Scruton,Roger: 'Modern Philosophy: introduction and survey' [Sinclair-Stevenson 1994], p.539


A Reaction

Yes, substances seem incapable of interaction, just as Leibniz argues that perfections could never interact. They are too pure.


The 18 ideas with the same theme [mind and matter mutually affect one another]:

All the emotions seem to involve the body, simultaneously with the feeling [Aristotle]
The soul (or parts of it) is not separable from the body [Aristotle]
Only bodies can touch one another [Lucretius]
The contact of spirit and body is utterly amazing, and incomprehensible [Augustine]
Things must have parts to intermingle [Gassendi]
The soul must unite with the body to have appetites and sensations [Descartes]
Interaction between mental and physical seems to violate the principle of conservation of energy [Rowlands on Descartes]
The pineal gland links soul to body, and unites the two symmetrical sides of the body [Descartes, by PG]
Descartes discussed the interaction problem, and compared it with gravity [Descartes, by Lycan]
Mind and brain don't interact if they are the same [Searle]
Mental substance causation makes physics incomplete [Kim]
Cartesians consider interaction to be a miracle [Fodor]
Semantics v syntax is the interaction problem all over again [Fodor]
Body-spirit interaction ought to result in losses and increases of energy in the material world [Teichmann]
The very concept of a substance denies the possibility of mutual interaction and dependence [Scruton]
Maybe dualist interaction is possible at the quantum level? [Chalmers]
Supervenience makes interaction laws possible [Chalmers]
If causation is just regularities in events, the interaction of mind and body is not a special problem [Heil]