Dualism
We are misled by dualism or the idea that mind and body are separate. ~ American neurologist Howard Fields
Dualism philosophically solidified under the influence of 17th-century French philosopher René Descartes, who based his view of Nature on a fundamental division between mind (res cogitans: the “thinking thing”) and matter (res extensa: the “extended thing”). Despite being somewhat skeptical of the senses, Descartes ultimately trusted them.
The integration of the mind and body is thorough: the robustness of one affects the other; but the relationship is asymmetrical. The most obvious example of the mind-body interface is stress. Mental trauma, such as grief or shock, can profoundly affect physical well-being. Conversely, serious physical injury may have negligible mental effect, depending upon frame of mind.
If this dualistic theory were true, it would confront us with the most embarrassing, insoluble difficulties should we try to explain how these 2 utterly different substances (mind and body) could interact with one another, as they appear to do in human behavior. ~ American philosopher Mortimer Adler
The Mind-Body Problem
There are many difficulties in giving a satisfactory account of the mind-body relationship. ~ Australian philosopher David Armstrong
The mind-body problem arises in trying to explain the interface between the mind and the brain (that is, the physiological intelligence system). This dilemma exists only with dualism, which considers the mind and the body distinct but somehow integrated.
Even though everybody agrees that mind has something to do with the brain, there is still no general agreement on the exact nature of this relationship. ~ Finnish psychologists Antti Revonsuo & Matti Kamppinen
For all the historical effort expended to understand the mind-body relation, no one has ever been able to offer a satisfactory explanation. The mind-body interface is either inscrutable or illusory.
No one has a plausible answer to the mind-body problem. ~ American philosopher Thomas Nagel
Mind-body ecology, essential to dualism, remains unfathomed. That bodes ill indeed for dualism as the basis of reality.
Duality never existed; it is illusory. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
