Dissertations / Theses: 'Mind-body dualism'

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Robinson, Thomas. "The Defining Features of Mind-Body Dualism in the Writings of Plato." Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú - Departamento de Humanidades, 2013. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/113081.

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The article looks at a number of concepts of soul -sorne of them not easily reconcilable with others- in the earlier dialogues of Plato, and then moves on to discuss the well-known doctrine of tripartition in the Republic and Timaeus, arguing that it constitutes in many ways significant progress over Plato's earlier thinking, especially as found in the Phaedo. Mention is also made of the little-discussed question of the nature and significance of gender differentiation of soul in the Timaeus. As for the famous passage,again in the Tímaeus, conceming the composition of soul. it is argued that this may well have been an attempt by Plato to grapple with the thorny question of psycho-physical dualism. Este artículo analiza algunos conceptos del alma - no siempre fáciles deconciliar entre sí- en los diálogos tempranos de Platón. Prosigue luego con una discusión acerca de la bien conocida doctrina sobre la tripartición del alma en la República y el Timeo, sosteniendo que esta doctrina constituye, en muchos sentidos, un progreso importante con respecto al pensamiento temprano de Platón, especialmente al Fedón. Se menciona también la cuestión poco discutida de la naturaleza e importancia de la diferenciación de géneros del alma en el Timeo. En relación con el famoso pasaje, también del Timeo, sobre la composición del alma, se sostiene que bien pudo haber sido un intento de Platón por lidiar con la espinosa cuestión del dualismo psicofísico.

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Jacoby, Dylan. "Stirring the pot: toward a physical reduction of mental events." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2009. http://165.236.235.140/lib/DJacoby2009.pdf.

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Perham, John. "SCIENCEFRICTION: OF THE POSTHUMAN SUBJECT, ABJECTION, AND THE BREACH IN MIND/BODY DUALISM." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/268.

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This thesis investigates the multiple readings that arise when the division between the biological and technological is interrupted--here abjection is key because the  binary between abjection and gadgetry gives multiple meanings to other binaries, including male/female. Using David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and eXistenZ, I argue that multiple readings arise because of people’s participation with electronically mediated technology. Indeed, abjection is salient because Cronenberg’s films present an ambivalent relationship between people and technology; this relationship is often an uneasy one because technology changes people on both a somatic and cognitive level.

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Hurley, Josie. "The Transgender Person and Pictures of the Mind and Body: An Exploration of Thought Experiments, Transition, and Bad Faith." Thesis, School of Liberal Arts, 2023. https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/10.

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In this thesis, the experience of being a transgender person is viewed and imagined through two different ‘pictures’ of the mind and body: The Dualist Picture, which is operative in Descartes’s and Locke’s philosophy, and The Expressivist Picture, whose primary representatives in this thesis are Wittgenstein and Stanley Cavell. These two pictures are pretheoretical ways of organising reality, and it will be shown, that when a different picture is taken as the base model for what a person, or self, is, there are ripple effects for how a transgender person comes to understand and reflect upon their experience. At the centre of each of the two parts of this thesis is a thought experiment from the respective picture of that part. The first is Locke’s The Prince and the Cobbler, and the second is Cavell’s The Guises. These two thought experiments both describe a kind of personal identity transformation related to the distinction between mind and body, what could more colloquially be called a body swap. Reflection on each of these thought experiments reveals that each picture leads to radically different notions of personal identity, of what a ‘transition’ of the self might be, and of what gender is and how it operates. This thesis also provides considerations of how the distortion of pictures can lead to what Sartre calls bad faith, a self-conception that fails to balance contrasting understandings of oneself, as an object amongst other objects on the one hand and as a subject capable of choice and change on the other hand. This thesis does not make value judgments on the pictures discussed, but rather calls for alternating between these pictures, or for a carousel-like use of pictures, to provide a more wide and rich understanding of self, especially for the transgender individual.

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McCardell, Elizabeth Eve. "Catching the ball: constructing the reciprocity of embodiment." Thesis, McCardell, Elizabeth Eve (2001) Catching the ball: constructing the reciprocity of embodiment. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2001. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/189/.

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This interdisciplinary dissertation is a study of the ways in which we sensually embody and experience ow world. It is a metaphilosophical account that begins within orporeality; indeed, it is suggested that this is the place where the philosophic urge is argued, elaborated, and reflected upon. While many studies of embodiment tend to focus upon the body as object, cultural artefact, or text for cultural inscription, the approach used in this dissertation is with the incarnation (the making flesh) of interaction in particular socio-physical milieux. The shift is thus from investigation of bodies to bodying, from noun form to transitive verb of incorporealization. This shift is felt necessary in order to better understand the so-called dualisms of traditional Western philosophic thought: mindbody, self-other, self-world, nature-culture, etc., and Tantric inspired Eastern philosophies of self-all relationality. It will be suggested, taking the lead from Leder (1990), that these apparent dualisms are not so much add-ons to philosophies of being, but arise in the experiential body itself. This dissertation endeavours to rethink certain givens of everyday life, such as perception of time and space, place, enacted memory, having empathic feelings for others, and so on, from within bodily experience and occidental-oriental philosophies of being. Certain neurological disorders are examined for their way of deconstructing elements required to construct a meaningful incarnated life-world. The process of embodiment is not only what the body is, but what it does. My construction of what is necessary for embodiment studies therefore considers bodily praxes (cultural and individual), as well as the sensual, sensate experiences arising in the body. The image of a ball game is evoked in various ways throughout the dissertation not only because it well describes the dense layers of interaction and an emergent sense of bodiliness, but it also illustrates reciprocity and situatedness. This thesis is intended to contribute to the health sciences as well as cultural studies. It draws upon the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, J. J. Gibson's ecological psychology, neurological studies and case histories, and the Eastern tradition of Tantrism in its Mahayanist Buddhist and Taoist forms.

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McCardell, Elizabeth Eve. "Catching the ball : constructing the reciprocity of embodiment /." McCardell, Elizabeth Eve (2001) Catching the ball: constructing the reciprocity of embodiment. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2001. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/189/.

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This interdisciplinary dissertation is a study of the ways in which we sensually embody and experience ow world. It is a metaphilosophical account that begins within orporeality; indeed, it is suggested that this is the place where the philosophic urge is argued, elaborated, and reflected upon. While many studies of embodiment tend to focus upon the body as object, cultural artefact, or text for cultural inscription, the approach used in this dissertation is with the incarnation (the making flesh) of interaction in particular socio-physical milieux. The shift is thus from investigation of bodies to bodying, from noun form to transitive verb of incorporealization. This shift is felt necessary in order to better understand the so-called dualisms of traditional Western philosophic thought: mindbody, self-other, self-world, nature-culture, etc., and Tantric inspired Eastern philosophies of self-all relationality. It will be suggested, taking the lead from Leder (1990), that these apparent dualisms are not so much add-ons to philosophies of being, but arise in the experiential body itself. This dissertation endeavours to rethink certain givens of everyday life, such as perception of time and space, place, enacted memory, having empathic feelings for others, and so on, from within bodily experience and occidental-oriental philosophies of being. Certain neurological disorders are examined for their way of deconstructing elements required to construct a meaningful incarnated life-world. The process of embodiment is not only what the body is, but what it does. My construction of what is necessary for embodiment studies therefore considers bodily praxes (cultural and individual), as well as the sensual, sensate experiences arising in the body. The image of a ball game is evoked in various ways throughout the dissertation not only because it well describes the dense layers of interaction and an emergent sense of bodiliness, but it also illustrates reciprocity and situatedness. This thesis is intended to contribute to the health sciences as well as cultural studies. It draws upon the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, J. J. Gibson's ecological psychology, neurological studies and case histories, and the Eastern tradition of Tantrism in its Mahayanist Buddhist and Taoist forms.

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Marvell, Leon, of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, Faculty of Social Inquiry, and School of Humanities. "Hermes Recidivus: a postmodern reading of the recrudescence of the Hermetic imaginary." THESIS_FSI_HUM_Marvell_L.xml, 1998. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/114.

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It is proposed that there exist unmistakable resonances of the Hermetic world-view in much of the science of the modern period. Hermes Recidivus examines key figurations operating within both the imaginaries of Hermeticism and modern(ist) science with a view to developing a postmodern critical position in regard to the discourse of the modernist scientific project. It is proposed that a re-examination of the notions surrounding these key figurations may provide new hermeneutical tools, and that the imaginary of Hermeticism represents a potentially rich resource from which to develop alternative modes of critical enquiry. It is furthermore proposed that the mechanism by which these Hermetic resonances are perpetuated within the discourse of modernist science takes the form of a logic of the imaginary associated with key figurations within Hermeticism. Certain figural elements associated with the Hermetic imaginary seem to possess a constancy that travels across temporal and disciplinary barriers, encouraging the assumption that these figures are central organising principles within both Hermeticism and modern science. Specifically these figurations are those of the anima mundi and the Gnostic 'alien light' or spintheros. It is proposed that these figurations take the form of 'ideal objects' within both the discourses of Hermeticism and modernist science. The individual chapters respectively examine the relevance of the Hermetic imaginary to Artificial Intelligence research and cybernetic theory; occidental and oriental traditions of the 'subtle body' and their relevance to developing a postmodern perspective on the question of mind-body dualism; the 'metaphysical geometry' of key figures within the Hermetic and Kabbalistic traditions and their resonances within mathematical 'catastrophe theory' as developed by Rene Thom; the Hermetic alchemy of Robbert Fludd as revealed in his text Truth's Golden Harrow, and its relevance in regard to the subject-object split of modern(ist) scientific consciousness and, finally, the influence of Kabbalistic and Hermetic figuration on the development of Leibniz's monadological philosophy and on the notion of the 'field' in contemporary physical theory Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Li, Oliver. "Neuroscience and the soul : A study of physicalism and dualism with respect to the mind/body problem and Christian beliefs." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Religionsfilosofi, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-175783.

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Kenadjian, C. Glenn. "A problem with recent materialistic theories of mind." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1991. http://www.tren.com.

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Powell, Margaret Cynthia. "A thesis on dualism of mind and body : an examination of the dualistic theories of Plato and Descartes and some contemporary rejections of and alternatives to dualism in the philosophy of mind." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323645.

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Norris, Stuart K. "Self-justification as the basic motivation of humanity a model of brain-mind-soul identity illustrating a compatibility of modern concepts of materialism with the Christian gospel /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1993. http://www.tren.com.

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Johansson, Henning. "Framväxten av korrespondensläran : Swedenborgs esoteriska doktrins filosofihistoriska grund." Thesis, University of Skövde, School of Humanities and Informatics, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-2737.

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The purpose of this paper is to exam the philosophical development of Emanuel Swedenborg's doctrine of correspondence and to note some of the more important parallels between Swedenborg's doctrine and the three contemporary most debated theories concerning the mind-body problem. These three theories was pre-established harmony, its opponent physical influx and finally occasionalism. Especially occasionalism has close connections to Descartes' dualism, but neither pre-established harmony or physical influxus, which in some ways can be dated before Descartes, would have looked the same, if it were not for the Cartesian way of thinking. Also Swedenborg initially inherited major influences from Descartes and that is the first approach in this paper. From there on the paper follows the development of the doctrine of correspondence and the parallels according Swedenborg's more contemporary philosophical writers, until Swedenborg gets to a point where he underwent a profound spiritual crisis and turned his focus on an all together theological approach.

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Isdra, Záchia Eduardo. "Subsistent Parts: Aquinas on the Hybridism of Human Souls." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/24114.

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In this dissertation, I argue for the philosophical consistency of Aquinas’ hybrid view of human souls - that is, the idea that human souls, and only human souls, are at once substantial forms and subsistent things. I contend that the best way to understand the ontological status of human souls according to Aquinas is by means of the concept of ‘subsistent parts’. Since Aquinas characterizes souls as parts of substances, I propose a mereological analysis of the different types of part in Aquinas, and I conclude that souls should be seen as metaphysical parts of substances. An influential contemporary view holds that Aquinas’ doctrine is inconsistent on the grounds that nothing could be an abstract (form) and a concrete (subsistent) at the same time. I respond to this view by denying the widespread notion that substantial forms are purely abstract entities. I hold that the best way to make sense of Aquinas’ twofold approach to human souls is by saying that substantial forms possess an element of concreteness which is accounted for by the fundamental relationship between form and being. Finally, I address the question of taxonomy: how can we classify Aquinas’ view of the soul-body relation in light of the concepts that are currently used in philosophy of mind. I argue that the notion of a subsistent part entails the concept of ‘part-dualism’, which I present as standing midway between substance-dualism and nonreductive materialism, and also as being ontologically richer than property-dualism. I conclude this dissertation with a refutation of the idea championed by some prominent scholars that the existence of the soul is sufficient for the existence of the person.

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Caldwell, Taylor M. "Dualism, Physicalism, and Professional or Alternative Health Seeking: A Gendered Perspective." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/66.

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Evidence supporting a range of 6-14 years between mental illness symptom recognition and psychological help seeking has spurred a substantial interest in help seeking barriers. The present study suggests that mind and body dualism, the perceiving of the mind as an entity distinct from the body, is one such barrier to help seeking. Despite the fact that beliefs in mind-body dualism or its opposite, that of physicalism, are evident in virtually all human cultures and religions, surprisingly little is known about the psychological and behavioral implications of holding such beliefs. An exception to this disparity is a study that demonstrated a connection between dualism and decreased engagement in healthy behaviors, such as exercise and eating habits (Forstmann et al., 2012). The aim of the present study was to expand on these findings by investigating the effects of mind-body beliefs and gender on attitudes towards professional psychological help and holistic or alternative medicines. In accordance with my hypothesis, a MANOVA indicated a main effect of gender, such that women felt more positively than men about seeking professional help for their own mental health problems as well as about the general value of therapy for others. A secondary analysis indicated that participants who self-identified as Jewish felt significantly more positive about psychotherapeutic treatment compared to Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist religious groups. Future research should continue to examine the links between mind-body ideologies, religion, culture, and help seeking through a large-scale correlational analysis utilizing naturally occurring mind-body beliefs.

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Ribeiro, Henrique de Morais. "Monadismo e fisicismo: um ensaio sobre as relações mente-corpo." Universidade de São Paulo, 2012. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8133/tde-13092012-094622/.

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Nesta tese, desenvolve-se um argumento explicativo da relação mente-corpo fundamentada na noção de mônada, ou substância simples, como elemento ontológico estruturante de um enfoque contemporâneo da mencionada relação. Na primeira parte da tese, de natureza crítica, analisam-se as teorias fisicistas contemporâneas da mencionada relação, a saber, a teoria de superveniência da mente, da emergência e da causação mental, com vistas a justificar a proposta de assunção de uma premissa dualista que visa, principalmente, propor, em contraste com o cenário epifenomenalista do fisicismo contemporâneo, uma ontologia da mente que seja compatível com as intuições realistas do senso comum e da psicológica popular sobre a força causal da mente no universo físico. Na segunda parte, de natureza positiva, propõe-se um argumento explicativo da relação mente-corpo partindo-se, para tanto, de uma assunção e duas premissas. A assunção afirma que a mente tem o mesmo importe ontológico da matéria física, sendo estes considerados como elementos composicionais, afirmação a qual se denomina dualismo elementar. No que se refere às premissas, propõe-se duas, a saber, a tese composicional holística, que afirma que a mente e a matéria são partes constitutivas de um todo chamado substância simples, e a tese composicional mereológica, que afirma que as substâncias simples ou mônadas compõem mereologicamente, por superveniência, a relação mente-corpo. Examinam-se também algumas objeções ao argumento monadista proposto. This thesis offers an explanatory argument concerning the mind-body relation, an argument that is grounded on the notion of monad, or the simple substance, as an ontological element for proposing a contemporary approach to the mind-body relation. In the first part, a critique of the current physicalist theories of mind is given, namely, supervenience, emergence and mental causation, in order to justify the proposal of a dualist premiss which aims at an ontology of mind which satisfies the realistic intuitions of common sense and of folk psychology on the causal efficacy and relevance of the mind amid the physical, in opposition to the epiphenomenalist view of contemporary physicalist theories. In the second part, the positive one, we propose an explanatory argument for monadism about mind-body relations, based on an assumption and two premises. The assumption says that the mind has the same ontological import of the physical matter, and they, mind and matter, are considered to be elements entering the composition of psychophysical relations, an assumption called elementary dualism. Regarding the premises, we propose two, namely, the holistic compositional thesis, which asserts that mind and matter are parts entering the composition of true wholes called substances, and the mereological compositional thesis, which says that such simple substances compose, via supervenience, the mind-body relations. Some objections to the proposed monadist argument are examined and rejoindered as well.

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Morimoto, Hikari. "The Vertical Structure and Symbolic Inversion in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe." Kyoto University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/242733.

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Kyoto University (京都大学) 0048 新制・課程博士 博士(人間・環境学) 甲第21856号 人博第885号 新制||人||212(附属図書館) 2018||人博||885(吉田南総合図書館) 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 (主査)教授水野尚之, 教授土屋由香, 准教授小島基洋, 教授西山けい子 学位規則第4条第1項該当

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Toyooka, Megumi. "L'union de l'âme et du corps dans la philosophie de Descartes." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018STRAC015/document.

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Descartes admet simultanément deux thèses : la distinction réelle de l’âme et du corps, pensées comme deux substances séparées, d’une part, et leur union substantielle de l’autre. Comment ces deux substances, radicalement distinctes, peuvent-elles être unies ? Dans l'histoire de la philosophie, la métaphysique cartésienne est comprise comme un dualisme, distinguant radicalement la substance pensante et la substance étendue, donc l’âme et le corps. Ma thèse conduit à renverser une telle représentation grâce à la considération de la correspondance avec Elisabeth. Elle montre que sa conception des relations entre l’âme et le corps est plus complexe qu’on ne le pense souvent, et montre aussi comment sa philosophie réussit à assurer la compatibilité de sa métaphysique, de sa philosophie naturelle et de sa philosophie pratique. La pensée cartésienne s’adresse ainsi aux hommes, non seulement dans leur réflexion métaphysique,mais aussi dans leur expérience de la vie Descartes simultaneously admits two theses: one is the real distinction between mind and bodythought as two separate substances, and the other is their substantial union. How can these two radically distinct substances be united? In the history of philosophy, Cartesian metaphysics is understood as a dualism, radically distinguishing the thinking substance and the extended substance, therefore the mind and the body. The aim of my thesis is to reverse such are presentation by the grace of the consideration of correspondence with Elisabeth. She shows that his conception of mind-body relations is more complex than is often thought, and also shows how his philosophy succeeds in ensuring the compatibility between his metaphysics, his natural philosophy and his practical philosophy. Cartesian thought is thus addressed to a human being, not only in their metaphysical reflection, but also in their experience of life

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Cominetti, Geder Paulo Friedrich. "A noção de linguagem em Descartes: ensaio sobre o conceito de linguagem na filosofia dualista de René Descartes." Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana, 2013. http://tede.unioeste.br:8080/tede/handle/tede/2052.

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Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Geder P Friedrich Cominetti.pdf: 1360851 bytes, checksum: f57b49982d341a630b5b9800d36c6e69 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-06 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior Descartes did not write a philosophy of language. A few quotes about this topic generate many interpretations. Most of the language studies in Descartes produce anachronisms or are originated by comparisons with other conceptions, without being led, primarily, by an analysis of the thought about the Cartesian language concept. However, the topic proved to be productive in speculations about the interaction between the human mind and body, which is very discussed by specialists and aggressively attacked by his opposers. Characterized as a Cartesian dualism essay, this study dares to separate the language in two parts, analyzing singly its material aspect, and then its immaterial aspect. This new approach turns the reader s attention to the importance of the material aspect of the language, substantiating the objectivity of the language in the extended substances. The communication only becomes possible because there is, among two or more men, the extension. This concept is classified as the objective aspect of the language, because it is generally in the area of the sensitive experience, apart from the individual and perceptible thought of the men. Concerning the subjective aspect, each individual has a free will and he can make his own thoughts. Indeed, it is in this way that Descartes conceives the language: having the men as the creator of the words meaning, which are represented and implemented by modification of the extension. In addition, he conceives the linguistics signs as representations of thoughts, as explicitness of the internal events of men. Their speech is the explicitness of their thoughts. Therefore, when looking at a set of graphic symbols that he produced, the individual realizes the movement of his thought. These revelations that the mind uses the body as a help in the searching for the truth, because, in the body, the memory can be used as a notebook of the mind demonstrate that the Cartesian dualistic conception of the language helped Descartes in his work on algebra and in his mathematical and scientific discoveries. In conclusion, it is possible to say that the topic has no end in the next pages, but it opens a new route for researchers devote their efforts to investigate the relations between mind and body. This study dares to be completely original in its approach, in the presented problem, but it does not want to bring the reader more than a deepening, at his limit, interpretation of one of the most commented writers in philosophy in the last three centuries. Descartes não escreveu uma filosofia da linguagem. Algumas poucas citações acerca do tema dão margem a muitas interpretações. A maioria dos estudos sobre a linguagem em Descartes comete anacronismos ou é gerida por comparações com outras concepções, deixando de proceder primordialmente por uma análise do pensamento cartesiano sobre a noção de linguagem. Contudo, este tema se mostra muito fecundo em especulações sobre a interação entre corpo e alma, que é polemizada por especialistas e atacada com agressividade por seus opositores. Caracterizado como um ensaio sobre o dualismo cartesiano, este trabalho ousa seccionar a linguagem de maneira bifurcada, analisando separadamente o seu aspecto material, por um lado, e seu aspecto imaterial, por outro. Esta abordagem inédita volta a atenção do leitor para a importância do aspecto material da linguagem ao fundamentar a objetividade da linguagem na matéria extensa. A comunicação só se torna possível porque há, entre dois ou mais homens, a extensão. Esta é classificada como sendo o aspecto objetivo da linguagem, pois está comumente no campo da experiência sensível, independentemente do pensamento individual e perceptível do homem. Com relação ao aspecto subjetivo, cada homem possui um livre arbítrio e pode compor seus próprios pensamentos. De fato, é assim que Descartes concebe a linguagem, tendo o homem como autor da significação das palavras, representadas e objetivadas através de modificações da extensão. Ademais, Descartes concebe os sinais linguísticos como representações do pensamento, como explicitação das ocorrências internas do homem. O discurso deste é a explicitação de seu pensamento. Por isto que, ao olhar um conjunto de símbolos gráficos que produziu, o homem percebe o movimento de seu pensamento. Revelações como estas de a mente se utilizar do corpo como um auxílio na busca da verdade, já que no corpo a memória pode servir como um caderno de notas da mente mostram que a concepção cartesiana dualista da linguagem auxiliou Descartes em seus trabalhos de álgebra e em suas descobertas científicas e matemáticas. Em suma, é possível afirmar que o tema não se esgota nas páginas que seguem, mas ele abre uma nova via para que pesquisadores se detenham a investigar as relações entre alma e corpo. Este trabalho tem a ousadia de ser completamente original em sua abordagem, no problema que se coloca, mas não quer trazer ao leitor mais que um aprofundamento, em seus limites, da interpretação de um dos autores mais comentados em filosofia nos últimos três séculos.

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Zilio, Federico. "The Problems of Consciousness and its Relationship with the World: An Investigation between Philosophy and Neuroscience." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3424671.

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The main subject of this dissertation is the relationship of consciousness with the world. Consciousness is extremely familiar and mysterious at the same time, and it is considered one of the most complex phenomena to describe and explain. Recently, cognitive science and neuroscience have assumed a significant role in the search for the fundamental structures of consciousness, investigating the neuronal basis that allows the emergence of our experience. For this reason, the present work is not only aimed at philosophical and phenomenological analysis but also at the latest results of neuroscience on the relationship between consciousness and brain. The first chapter outlines the main topics of contemporary consciousness studies (first-, second-, third-person perspective, the nature of qualia, phenomenal contents, the hard problem and the meta-problem of consciousness, etc.). After presenting a provisional model for the phenomenological (Sartre) and logical (Kripke) structure of consciousness, represented by intentionality, phenomenality and self-awareness (Chapter 2), I will critically discuss reductive approaches that are influential both in neuroscience and in philosophy of mind. Some of them support the possibility to conceptually and ontologically reduce experience to brain activity (neuro-centrism; Chapter 3), while others perform the hypostatization of numerous mental states within the mind/brain (mento-centrism; Chapter 4). In this regard, it is possible to identify a common paradigm, that is, the distinction between reality and appearance that occurred especially during modern philosophy (in particular Descartes) and after the modern scientific revolution (in particular Galilei). This has led to the reduction of experience to a mind- or brain-related quality/property, as we can see nowadays (Chapter 4). Given the perspectival, multifaceted structure of experience and following the analysis of several non-reductive approaches, I will argue for an ontologically and epistemologically pluralist account of consciousness, that it can be developed only through an interdisciplinary approach, by philosophy, phenomenology and neuroscience together (Chapter 5). This will allow me to address the issue of consciousness from the so-called non-reductive neurophilosophical approach, through which I will analyse the way we experience the world from both a phenomenological and a neuroscientific perspective. Supported by Sartre's phenomenological analyses of consciousness in relation to world and body, I argue that experience is not given without the embodied-being-in-the-world condition, a condition that will then be connected to the neuroscientific concept of environment-body-brain alignment (adapted from Northoff’s world-brain relation), that is, a necessary predisposition for the maintenance of consciousness (Chapter 6). In conclusion, the concept of consciousness-in-the-world will be tested through neurophilosophical experiments regarding the Locked-in syndrome and the dreaming state, suggesting the need to reconsider consciousness not merely in terms of brain- or mind-relation, but intrinsically as world-related.

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Brown, Julius. "Penser le corps, sa puissance et sa destinée chez Spinoza : aux sources de son anthropologie." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015STRAK012/document.

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Spinoza évaluera la révolution copernicienne et prônera un naturalisme rationaliste et matérialiste contre la tradition onto-théologique, Aristote et Descartes en étant les deux figures clés, sans parler des théologiens et de la Bible. Spinoza interprète l’erreur du géocentrisme comme signalant deux autres erreurs : le dualisme anthropologique classique qui inféodait le corps à l’âme et l’illusion du libre-arbitre. Par la réhabilitation gnoséologique, psychophysique et socio-affective du corps, il prétend conduire l’homme au salut présent, non eschatologique, le réconciliant avec lui-même et avec le Dieu-Nature. La permanence d’une sensibilité anthropologique hébraïque y est prégnante, ce qui n’annule pas des disparités conceptuelles, métaphysiques, sotériologiques et éthiques entre lui et l’Écriture. Ces disparités pourraient rapprocher Spinoza plus d’Aristote que de Descartes. Le projet spinozien tiendra-t-il ses promesses sans retomber dans les travers du mythique et du mystique ? Spinoza assesses the Copernican revolution and advocates a rationalist and materialistic naturalismagainst the onto-theological tradition, Aristotle and Descartes as the two main figures thereof,theologians and the Bible not to mention. Spinoza interprets the error of geocentrism as indicating twoother errors: classical anthropological dualism which subjugated the body to the soul and the illusion offree-will. By gnoseological, psychophysical and socio-emotional rehabilitation of the body, he claims tolead man to present salvation, not eschatological, reconciling him with himself and with God as Nature.The permanence of Hebraic anthropological sensibility is pregnant, which does not cancel metaphysical,soteriological and ethical disparities between him and the Bible. These disparities could bring Spinozacloser to Aristotle than to Descartes. Will the spinozian project keep its promises without relapsing intothe traps of the mythical and the mystical ?

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Johansson, Sara. "Rytmen bor i mina steg : En rytmanalytisk studie om kropp, stad och kunskap." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-204630.

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This thesis brings together a fascination with the city and a keen interest in the knowledge process. The point of departure is the bodily, sensory and emotional experience. That the author uses her own perceptions and experiences and is preoccupied with her own knowledge process means that she writes herself into an autoethnographic context. She also experiments with the writing and allows it to take on a more literary form as she writes about her own sensory impressions and feelings. The term rhythmanalysis is employed as a way of assessing, exploring, interpreting and understanding the world that embraces the embodied experience. Human beings are embodied beings, a claim we can make by referring to our own experiences as well as how we perceive, communicate and interact. The study delves into two aspects of rhythmanalysis, first as a way of describing the knowledge process as rhythm-analytical, which implies that bodily experiences are equally important as intellectual ones, and secondly as a way of talking about the city as polyrhythmic. It follows upon the latter that embodied rhythmanalysis of the city is possible. The rhythmanalysis may ultimately be seen as a project aimed at overthrowing the Cartesian dualism between body and mind. That we are embodied has a methodological consequence that is as simple as it is essential: the scholar exists in the world she studies. The researcher is not a neutral observer. She is a co-creator. She is a body, placed in time, space and history. She is situated, which means that her knowledge is also situated. Thus, the rhythmanalysis encompasses the body, the senses and feelings, and can be described with one key word: movement. It finds support in theories that acknowledge the fluid, the becoming, the situated, the performative, the relational, the dynamic, the material. It seeks methods that experiment, that focus on practices rather than discourses, that are preoccupied with a movable world rather than a static one.

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Brown, Julius. "Penser le corps, sa puissance et sa destinée chez Spinoza : aux sources de son anthropologie." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Strasbourg, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015STRAK012.

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Spinoza évaluera la révolution copernicienne et prônera un naturalisme rationaliste et matérialiste contre la tradition onto-théologique, Aristote et Descartes en étant les deux figures clés, sans parler des théologiens et de la Bible. Spinoza interprète l’erreur du géocentrisme comme signalant deux autres erreurs : le dualisme anthropologique classique qui inféodait le corps à l’âme et l’illusion du libre-arbitre. Par la réhabilitation gnoséologique, psychophysique et socio-affective du corps, il prétend conduire l’homme au salut présent, non eschatologique, le réconciliant avec lui-même et avec le Dieu-Nature. La permanence d’une sensibilité anthropologique hébraïque y est prégnante, ce qui n’annule pas des disparités conceptuelles, métaphysiques, sotériologiques et éthiques entre lui et l’Écriture. Ces disparités pourraient rapprocher Spinoza plus d’Aristote que de Descartes. Le projet spinozien tiendra-t-il ses promesses sans retomber dans les travers du mythique et du mystique ? Spinoza assesses the Copernican revolution and advocates a rationalist and materialistic naturalismagainst the onto-theological tradition, Aristotle and Descartes as the two main figures thereof,theologians and the Bible not to mention. Spinoza interprets the error of geocentrism as indicating twoother errors: classical anthropological dualism which subjugated the body to the soul and the illusion offree-will. By gnoseological, psychophysical and socio-emotional rehabilitation of the body, he claims tolead man to present salvation, not eschatological, reconciling him with himself and with God as Nature.The permanence of Hebraic anthropological sensibility is pregnant, which does not cancel metaphysical,soteriological and ethical disparities between him and the Bible. These disparities could bring Spinozacloser to Aristotle than to Descartes. Will the spinozian project keep its promises without relapsing intothe traps of the mythical and the mystical ?

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Xie, Jing. "Du corps à la corporisation. La possibilité d'aborder le monde de l'expérience en dépassant la dualité corps/esprit." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019USPCC004.

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En partant d’une réflexion sur la vision chinoise du « corps », cette thèse se propose d’explorer la notion chinoise de « corporisation » (tizhi 体之 qui est le plus souvent traduite par l’« incorporation » ou l’« expérience incorporée »). Notre travail comprend deux parties. Dans la première partie, la thèse se concentre sur les particularités de la vision du corps dans la pensée chinoise. Notre recherche analyse l’évolution sémantique de notions importantes dans la langue chinoise et questionne les conditions de l’existence de la dualité corps/esprit dans la philosophie occidentale. Dans la deuxième partie, nous nous demandons pourquoi la corporisation est possible dans la pensée chinoise et comment elle peut s’opérer. Ce que nous avons l’intention de montrer, à travers une approche interculturelle qui se détache de la comparaison, c’est que la notion occidentale de « corps » se trouve dissoute par la langue dans la pensée chinoise. Pour les Chinois, le corps peut se comprendre comme une transformation de la vie, il est infiniment ouvert et demeure à chaque moment dans un état dynamique. La corporisation, une manière de rétablir le lien entre l’homme et le monde, se fonde directement sur cette vision du corps et sur un croisement mutuel entre le sujet et l’objet. Nous mettons également en évidence un processus de désubjectivation et de désobjectivation dans la corporisation Starting from a reflection on the Chinese vision of the "body", this thesis proposes to explore the Chinese notion of "bodilization" (tizhi 体之 which is most often translated by "embodiment" or "embodied experience"). Our work consists of two parts. In the first part, the thesis focuses on the peculiarities of vision of the body in Chinese thought. Our research analyzes the semantic evolution of important notions in the Chinese language and questions the conditions of the existence of mind-body duality in Western philosophy. The second part involves discovering why bodilization is possible in Chinese thought and how it can operate. What we intend to point out, through an intercultural approach which is different from the comparative method, is that the Western notion of "body" is dissolved by language in Chinese thought. For the Chinese, the body can be understood as a transformation of life, it is infinitely open and remains at every moment in a dynamic state. Bodilization, a way of restoring the link between man and the world, is based directly on this vision of the body and on a mutual cross between the subject and the object. We also bring out a process of desubjectivation and deobjectivation in the bodilization 本篇博士论文是从中国身体观出发，就中国思想里的“体之”观念而展开的一系列思考与探索。论文分为两部分。第一部分主要通过分析中国思想里重要观念相关术语的语义演化，与探问西方哲学里“身心二元”之存在条件，以呈现中国身体观之特殊性。第二部分则是围绕“体之”在中国思想里何以成为可能以及“体之”如何得以运作这两个具体问题进行思考。在方法上，论文力图摒弃传统的比较框架，从文化“间距”出发。论文旨在阐明：西方哲学里的“身体”观念在中国思想里为语言所消解。对于中国人而言，身体更多地被理解为一种生命的流转，它无限开放，且时刻活跃着。而为中国思想所特有的“体之”观念正是建立在这一身体观之上，建立在主体与客体的交互之上。实际上，“体之”是一种恢复天人原初关系的方法，抑或是说，重新连结人与世界的方法，而其实现过程则在于“去主体化”与“去客体化”。

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Ribeiro, Juliana Costa. "O corpo anoréxico: dos abusos midiáticos às experiências de novos processos comunicativos." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2009. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/5187.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:17:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana Costa Ribeiro.pdf: 579733 bytes, checksum: 2989273fdabb956cf1092bb7d0becb99 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-29 The increasing number of eating disorders in the last decades calls the attention of researchers concerned with body studies in several fields of knowledge. The media and the fashion world emphasize the need of a woman s slim and young body, associated with happiness, wealth, health and success. There is more demand of a slim body among social groups connected with worldwide information. The fear of rejection is usually considered the immediate cause of such radical action. The main objective of this research work is to analyze how the communication processes between the anorectic body and the environment occur, and the possible changes after performing body practices, such as the Vianna s technique. Our hypothesis is that anorectic people live under the mind/body duality paradigm, taking the control of the mind over the body to the last consequences. To understand the symptom of body maps distortion in the brain, we analyzed the works by the neuroscientist Damásio (1995), and the concept of embodied mind concept by Lakoff & Johnson (1999). Then we present historical data on an anorexia outbreak in the Middle Ages, known today as holy anorexia, and the current anorexia nervosa, so as to discuss the mind/body spirit/matter duality in both cases. So we will also discuss the phenomenon of media abuse in advertisements, newspapers, books, TV and Internet, considered to cause the contemporary anorexia nervosa. The theory adopted here is the research works by Katz & Greiner (2005) on the mediabody, which considers the body the primary communication media; by Gail Weiss (1999), on the formulation of body images; by Paul Churchland (2004), who mapped the several types of Cartesian dualisms; and the theoretical work by the Brazilian researchers Letícia Teixeira (2008) and Neide Neves (2008) on Vianna s technique, who helped clarify the idea that an approach based on the body can help an anorectic person to undo the mind/body dichotomy. For the research corpus, we observed two groups of people. The first one is formed by people who had anorexia and recovered from it; the second, by anorectic people under medical treatment who perform Vianna s technique. Field work is being carried out since September 2007. As an outcome, this work proposes changing the discussion focus on anorexia, usually concerned with cultural pressures on psychoanalytical analyses, once it considers this disease as result of a radicalization of the mind/body duality. This separation inquires body s nature as a mediabody and, once abusively highlighted by press, it disguises the disorder as a communicational mass phenomenon, rendering the understanding and treatment in each particular case more complicating O aumento dos casos de distúrbio alimentar nas últimas décadas vem atraindo a atenção de estudiosos do corpo em diversas áreas de conhecimento. Atualmente, a mídia e a moda enfatizam a necessidade de a mulher ter um corpo magro e jovem. Associam a esse padrão estético a felicidade, a riqueza, a saúde e o sucesso. A exigência do corpo magro é mais presente em grupos sociais que vivem conectados às informações que circulam em larga escala pelo mundo. O medo da rejeição é normalmente apontado como causa imediata para essa ação radical. Nesta pesquisa, o objetivo principal é analisar como se dão os processos de comunicação do corpo anoréxico com o seu ambiente e as possíveis modificações, ao vivenciar práticas corporais como a técnica Vianna. Trabalharemos com a hipótese de que pessoas com anorexia vivem sob o paradigma da dualidade mente/corpo, levando às últimas consequências o controle da primeira sobre o segundo. Para entender o sintoma da distorção dos mapas corporais no cérebro, analisamos os estudos do neurocientista António Damásio (1995) e o conceito de mente entranhada dos americanos Lakoff e Johnson (1999). Apresentamos, em seguida, dados históricos acerca de um surto de anorexia ocorrido na Idade Média, hoje conhecido por anorexia santa, e a anorexia nervosa da atualidade, a fim de discorrer sobre a dualidade mente/corpo espírito/matéria presente nos dois casos. Para tanto, discutiremos também o fenômeno dos abusos midiáticos em anúncios publicitários, jornais, livros, televisão e internet, ao qual é atribuída uma relação de causalidade com a anorexia nervosa contemporânea. Como fundamentação teórica, estudamos as pesquisas de Katz e Greiner (2005) sobre o corpomídia, que propõe o corpo como mídia primária da comunicação; a de Gail Weiss (1999), acerca da formulação de imagens corporais; a de Paul Churchland (2004), que mapeou as diversas modalidades de dualismos cartesianos; e as pesquisas teóricas das brasileiras Letícia Teixeira (2008) e Neide Neves (2008) sobre a técnica Vianna, que ajudou a esclarecer a proposição de que uma abordagem a partir do corpo pode ajudar uma anoréxica a dissolver essa dicotomia mente/corpo. Para o corpus da pesquisa, selecionamos dois grupos de pessoas para observação. O primeiro é composto por pessoas que já tiveram anorexia e conseguiram reverter o quadro e o segundo, por pessoas que estão anoréxicas atualmente e que, além do acompanhamento médico, praticam a técnica Vianna. O trabalho de campo vem sendo realizado desde setembro de 2007. Como resultado, esta pesquisa propõe desviar o foco da discussão a respeito da anorexia, normalmente voltado para as pressões culturais ou para análises psicanalíticas, uma vez que analisa essa doença como resultado da radicalização da dualidade mente/corpo. Tal separação questiona a natureza do corpo como um corpomídia e, uma vez salientada de maneira abusiva pela mídia impressa e televisa, camufla o distúrbio como um fenômeno comunicacional de massa, dificultando ainda mais a compreensão e o tratamento de cada caso particular

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31

Germin, Jessie. "Addressing physical activity in psychotherapy: theoretical orientation and mind-body dualism." Master's thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10048/1281.

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Despite the substantial research illustrating the positive effects of physical activity on mental health, there are few studies examining the role of exercise in psychotherapy. This study examined factors associated with psychotherapists addressing physical activity with their clients. To examine this relationship, psychotherapists (N=118) completed questionnaires assessing theoretical orientation and mind-body dualism attitudes. Participants rated the likelihood they would address exercise with a client described in a case vignette and results indicated high rates of addressing physical activity with this client. The hypothesis that cognitive/behavioural and psychodymanic/psychoanalytic approaches would correlate with addressing exercise was not supported. Unpredicted relationships between exercise discussion and the humanistic/existential and constructivist/narrative/solution-focused orientations were found. The hypothesis that mind-body dualism attitudes would negatively correlate with the likelihood of addressing exercise was also not supported; however, this may be due to weak measurement of the mind-body dualism construct. Counselling Psychology

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32

Hsu, Pei-hsien, and 許倍銜. "Discussing a Issue of Organ Transplantation from Descartes “Mind-Body Dualism”." Thesis, 2011. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05145494484421319276.

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Bogardus, Tomas Alan. "An epistemological approach to the mind-body problem." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-08-3886.

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This dissertation makes progress on the mind-body problem by examining certain key features of epistemic defeasibility, introspection, peer disagreement, and philosophical methodology. In the standard thought experiments, dualism strikes many of us as true. And absent defeaters, we should believe what strikes us as true. In the first three chapters, I discuss a variety of proposed defeaters—undercutters, rebutters, and peer disagreement—for the seeming truth of dualism, arguing that not one is successful. In the fourth chapter, I develop and defend a novel argument from the indefeasibility of certain introspective beliefs for the conclusion that persons are not complex objects like brains or bodies. This argument reveals the non-mechanistic nature of introspection. text

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Bernier, Richard J. "The plausibility of substance dualism as an approach to the mind-body problem : a philosophical and theological inquiry." Thesis, 2004. http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/7839/1/MQ91001.pdf.

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This thesis presents an argument that would posit a substantial non-physical principle of cognition and consciousness, i.e . a mind or soul, ontologically distinct from the physical brain and its properties. The case consists of, first, a series of arguments that seek to establish the rational foundation for this Cartesian or substance dualism and, second, an attempt to reply to some of the major objections to it. The second component includes a survey of physicalism , the chief alternative to dualism as a solution to the classic mind-body problem. The theological significance of the debate, and particularly of the status one accords to dualism in the debate, is the concern of the final chapter. The latter concludes that the implications of accepting or rejecting substance dualism are far-reaching for theological and ethical affirmations about human immortality and the worth of human beings. Some areas needing further discussion and inquiry, such as the possible relevance of Chalcedonian Christology and the need for further reflection on the precise mechanism of brain-mind interaction, are highlighted in the course of the presentation of the issue.

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Marvell, Leon. "Hermes Recidivus: a postmodern reading of the recrudescence of the Hermetic imaginary." Thesis, 1998. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/114.

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It is proposed that there exist unmistakable resonances of the Hermetic world-view in much of the science of the modern period. Hermes Recidivus examines key figurations operating within both the imaginaries of Hermeticism and modern(ist) science with a view to developing a postmodern critical position in regard to the discourse of the modernist scientific project. It is proposed that a re-examination of the notions surrounding these key figurations may provide new hermeneutical tools, and that the imaginary of Hermeticism represents a potentially rich resource from which to develop alternative modes of critical enquiry. It is furthermore proposed that the mechanism by which these Hermetic resonances are perpetuated within the discourse of modernist science takes the form of a logic of the imaginary associated with key figurations within Hermeticism. Certain figural elements associated with the Hermetic imaginary seem to possess a constancy that travels across temporal and disciplinary barriers, encouraging the assumption that these figures are central organising principles within both Hermeticism and modern science. Specifically these figurations are those of the anima mundi and the Gnostic 'alien light' or spintheros. It is proposed that these figurations take the form of 'ideal objects' within both the discourses of Hermeticism and modernist science. The individual chapters respectively examine the relevance of the Hermetic imaginary to Artificial Intelligence research and cybernetic theory; occidental and oriental traditions of the 'subtle body' and their relevance to developing a postmodern perspective on the question of mind-body dualism; the 'metaphysical geometry' of key figures within the Hermetic and Kabbalistic traditions and their resonances within mathematical 'catastrophe theory' as developed by Rene Thom; the Hermetic alchemy of Robbert Fludd as revealed in his text Truth's Golden Harrow, and its relevance in regard to the subject-object split of modern(ist) scientific consciousness and, finally, the influence of Kabbalistic and Hermetic figuration on the development of Leibniz's monadological philosophy and on the notion of the 'field' in contemporary physical theory

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Sedlická, Denisa. "Motiv stroje v Descartově metafyzice." Master's thesis, 2020. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-436288.

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The master's thesis discusses basic elements of metaphysics by René Descartes. The first part of the thesis focuses on his personal life because certain events shaped and influenced his further actions and ideas. To understand the context of time, the paper presents history knowledge that is relevant to the topic. René Descartes is still known today for his philosophical ideas which helped to develop findings in the field of metaphysics. During his lifetime, that is the first half of the 17th century, natural sciences were gaining in popularity. The thesis follows up with mathematization and geometrization of nature. Descartes' basic premise of knowledge is methodical skepticism which ultimately results in his first personal certainty of philosophy. Next part focuses on the clarification of the dualistic concept of two different substances - rez extensa and res cogitans. The largest and most important part deals with the mechanical conception of the human body. René Descartes believes that the human body is a machine operated by mechanical principles. The thesis introduces a systematic description of the body which logically justifies the primary ideas of this French philosopher. KEYWORDS René Descartes, methaphysics, dualism, mind, body, God, machine, mathematics, geometry

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Mortimore, Lisa Michelle. "Embodied ways of knowing: women’s eco-activism." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/4653.

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Traditional knowledges and ways of living in harmony with the Earth and among species have been disregarded, discarded, and destroyed as industrialisation, capitalism, and globalisation have pervaded, all maintained in part by the Cartesian split which dissociates body from mind, heaven from Earth, nature from culture. These hegemonic layers of control have served to bind the fate of the Earth’s eco-systems, including human life, to the global capital economy which thrives on growth and development at any and all costs. This feminist, arts-informed inquiry brought an embodied lens to the stories of eco-activism and inquired as to the role of embodied ways of knowing and their role in eco-activism and the toll of activism upon women eco-activist bodies. This research inquiry interviewed thirteen women eco-activists, conducted four art-making focus groups, and used embodied reflexivity as part of the analysis process in order to find new understandings and knowledge to add to the limited literature on embodiment, embodied ways of knowing, and women’s eco-activism. Furthermore, this research sought to identify and articulate the ways in which activism practice can be more sustainable for activists and intended to add to the growing awareness body/mind connection and unity consciousness for activists, educators, and others working towards social change. The key findings of this research indicate that embodied knowledges counter fragmented ways of living, foster sustainable practices, and offer guidance and direction to live more harmoniously with, and on, the Earth and to practice activism. It also expands our understanding of women’s embodied ways of knowing and illuminates our understandings of how bodies can guide and show alternate ways of living, and practising activism, that are sustainable. This inquiry further added to the growing awareness of body/mind connection and unity consciousness with a focus on activists, educators, and others interested in finding ways to live with, rather than on, the Earth. Graduate 0329 0453 lisa@lisamortimore.com

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van, Rysewyk SP. "Pain is mechanism." Thesis, 2013. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/16767/2/whole_excl-images-vanrysewyk-thesis-2013.pdf.

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The mind-body problem is the problem: what is the relationship between mind and body? In this project, I claim that the relationship between the experience of pain and specific physiological mechanisms is best understood as one of type identity. Specifically, the personal experience of pain is an allostatic stress mechanism comprised of interdependent nervous, endocrine and immune operations. In Chapter One, I provide five reasons to prefer type identity theory of mind to dualistic philosophies of mind: it has greater explanatory power; it is more respectful of philosophical and folk intuitions about the causal powers of qualia; it is simpler; it is supported by the causal closure of the physical; and it is continuous with the natural sciences and not separate from them. I describe and challenge four philosophical objections to type identity theory of mind: mental states are excluded; mental states disappear; inverted qualia; and Saul Kripke‟s claim that type identity theory is false because two individuals could have the same mental state while having different physiological states. In Chapter Two, I advance a type identity theory of pain supported by a robust theoretical schema as the best description of the mind-body puzzle: what is pain? I frame a well established multilevel descriptive view of the physiological mechanisms that describe pain qualia within the context of advancing theoretical descriptions of the nervous, endocrine and immune systems and their functional interdependencies, and descriptions of allostasis, homeostasis, stress and wounds, all constrained in turn by complex adaptive systems theory. A biological individual is a complex adaptive system coping with a physical and social environment, but possessing nested subsystems. Taken together, these descriptions show how pain qualia are type identified with specific neurophysiological mechanisms; namely: (1) somatosensory qualia of pain, including submodality, intensity, duration and location, are best described as the operations of multisubsystem mechanisms in the neospinothalamic tract; (2) negative emotional pain qualia are the operations of multisubsystem mechanisms in the paleospinothalamic tract; (3) cognitive pain qualia (pain anticipation) are the operations of primary somatosensory cortex (neospinothalamic tract); (4) pain suppression (stress-induced analgesia) are the operations the dorsolateral funiculus pathway and opiate systems (paleospinothalamic tract). The simplest and most parsimonious metaphysical description of these robust relationships is that pain is mechanism. In Chapter Three, I advance a novel polyvagal-type identity theory of pain facial expression to best explain the explanatory mind-body puzzle: how can pain exist? According to some philosophers, assuming neuroscience explains with what mechanistic operations being aware of a burning arm pain is type identical, it is still impossible for any neuroscientific theory to explain how a specific pain must be correlated with a specific mechanism, as opposed to a different mechanism. Thus, there appears to be an explanatory gap. In this chapter, I will attempt to bridge the explanatory gap in two ways. First, based on the theoretical approach for a type identity theory of pain offered in Chapter Two, I offer a polyvagal-type identity theory of the mammalian pain face. I claim type identity theory of mind best explains how the gap can be bridged. Type identity theory of mind makes a realist assumption that pain is causally responsible for behaviours such as facial pain grimaces and screaming. Second, I attempt to bridge the gap by arguing that the supposed gap assumes that type identity theory must reconstruct type pain identities as formal derivations from laws of nature. Based on actual scientific practice and philosophical considerations concerning explanatory levels, I will show that this is a false assumption. Type identity statements that successfully emerge from mechanistic pain explanation are between different delineations of pain phenomena at the same explanatory level; they are intralevel. Although the explanatory gap puzzle correctly shows our incomplete understanding of how pain might be explained by mechanism, the gap merely asserts a practical limit on our present explanatory successes, and is not in principle unbridgeable on a priori grounds, as some philosophers claim. Eliminative materialists also assert that there is nothing more to pain than mechanism, but deny that pain can be type identified with neurophysiological mechanism. The reason is that pain does not really exist. Eliminativists propose that pain is part of folk psychology which consists of false generalizations („wounding is the cause of pain‟) and false theoretical claims ("pain always hurts‟). Thus, pain should be eliminated and replaced by an accurate neuroscientific successor theory. In Chapter Four, I assess philosophical arguments and data for and against eliminative materialism of pain. If eliminativism is correct, then the version of type identity theory of pain I propose in this project is strictly false. While pain folk psychology has stimulated much psychological research resulting in improved clinical outcomes for some pain patients, our own intellectual history reveals that any theory can seem successful even when it is radically false. Neuroscience already shows that many folk pain claims are false, while the truth of many others is not known. Eliminative materialism implies the disquieting consequence that the limit of what can be scientifically eliminated or reduced is much closer than we may conventionally think. Alternately, since intellectual history also offers modest evidence of theoretical co-existence between type identity theory of mind and folk psychology, radical theory change as advocated by eliminativism is just one end-point on a continuum of many possibilities. Still, accommodation such as this cannot change the sobering insight that all human knowledge is ultimately provisional. This realization encourages guarded humility about the ontological status of existing folk and scientific pain theories, including the type identity theory of pain, while it fosters an equally guarded optimism concerning our future theoretical prospects.

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Nortjé, Elizabeth Louise. "Embodiment in the poetry of Gabeba Baderoon / Elizabeth Louise Nortjé." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/11094.

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This dissertation examines the relation between embodiment and language, knowledge and memory, as explored in the poetry of South African poet Gabeba Baderoon. In her three published collections of poetry, namely, The Museum of Ordinary Life, The Dream in the Next Body and A Hundred Silences, she depicts seemingly trivial and everyday events or experiences with acute attention to detail, all of which are connected by her unique portrayal of their embodied nature. In doing so, her work illustrates that intellectual activities typically associated with the mind, such as language, knowledge and memory, in fact require the incorporation of the body. Therefore, this dissertation studies the mind-body relation represented in her work with regard to these thematic concerns, since it is a crucial aspect of her poetry and aids not only in understanding and interpreting her work, but also the discourse on embodiment in general. These concerns do, moreover, not remain on a thematic level, but are evident in her poetry itself; that is, her poems too act as a form of embodiment. Furthermore, Baderoon’s poems are able to transcend the supposed mind-body dichotomy in a way that shows much in common with phenomenology, and especially the perspective held by authors such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This dissertation incorporates phenomenological ideas on the body and embodiment, as these assist in interpreting Baderoon’s work, as well as for the reason that her poetry sheds new light upon the understanding of such phenomenological ideas, too. Thus, this dissertation seeks to elucidate the manner in which Gabeba Baderoon’s poetry transcends the mind-body dichotomy by means of her exceptional employment of the notion of embodiment on a thematic as well as formal level. Thesis (MA (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

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Jacobs, Jeremy John. "Non-duality in Ken Wilber's integral philosophy : a critical appaisal and alternative physicalyst perspective of mystical consciousness." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2642.

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Since the advent of human consciousness all manner of theoreticians from mystics to philosophers, and linguists to scientists have considered why and how it is that an individuated self seems to occupy or indwell a physical body. There is a common experiential sense, in other words, in which personal consciousness and our bodies are felt to be two different things. Two broad areas of opinion attempting to explain this apparent bifurcation are defined for the purpose of addressing this problem: Essentialists who variously maintain that there are non-physical properties inherent to all forms and functions of physicality; and Physicalists who claim that the extant universe as a multiplicity of complex material processes is the only reality. The respective natures of body and mind and the ways in which they relate has yielded an extraordinary variety of hypotheses within and between these two broad categories. In this thesis the dilemma is called the Hard Problem and it focuses particularly on the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Recently, Ken Wilber has constructed an Integral Philosophy which attempts a synergistic gradation of all possible genres of experience and knowledge into one cohesive scheme representing the total Reality. The culminating point of Wilber’s theory claims resolution of the Hard Problem, indeed of all appearances of duality, in the realisation of consummate emptiness in mystical consciousness. Wilber’s proposal therefore tenders a version of Essentialism since it implies that an Absolute principle is inherent to all existence. The problem explored in this study considers whether the epistemological architecture of Wilber’s Philosophy is coherent and consistent. Following a critical appraisal of Wilber’s system it is proposed that epistemological coherence is more likely to be achieved by retaining the ontology of consciousness and matter to only one kind. In this way the scientific protocols which Wilber imports to validate his truth-claims are protected from ontological confusion. Whether this non-dual Physicalism is adequate as a means of explaining consciousness, and particularly mystical consciousness, is moot. Perhaps there remains an inalienable quality in mysticism which will always elude our ability to apprehend it. Christian Sprituality, Church History & Missiology D. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

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Rajaram, Riana. "The psychosocial factors associated with athletic retirement in elite and competitive athletes." Thesis, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/13362.

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Background: Career ending injuries are known to cause negative psychosocial and behavioural outcomes in retired athletes. However, there has been a limited amount of quantitative studies to complement mostly qualitative research. Furthermore, qualitative studies have typically assessed the effects of athletic identity, mental health/mood disturbances, loss, coping mechanisms and social support with minimal research regarding physical body transitions and body-esteem throughout the retirement process. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between affective, behavioural, and cognitive outcomes and athletic retirement (voluntary, involuntary) among elite and competitive athletes. Method: A retrospective mixed method (questionnaire and interview) study was utilized to examine how participants interpreted their experience during the transitional process into retirement. Inclusion criteria consisted of male and female, elite and competitive athletes who have voluntarily or involuntarily (career ending injury) retired, ages 18 and above. Exclusion criteria included non-athletes/recreational athletes, athletes who were able to return to play or retired due to illness, health problems or deselection as well as who were less than 18 years of age. Posters were advertised in sports clubs, fitness centers, sports centers, physiotherapy offices and universities as well as on social media (Facebook and Instagram). The main outcome measures are as follows:1) Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS); 2) Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ), 3) Mental Health and 4) COPE Inventory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from both retirement (voluntary and involuntary) groups. All interviews (telephone, zoom) were recorded, transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was implemented to further determine the various themes and subthemes. An independent t-test explored the impacts of body dimensions and coping mechanisms on retirement type. Then a factorial ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of the dependent variables (mental health, mood disturbances and coping mechanisms) on the main analysis (retirement) and the exploratory (strength of athletic identity) analysis. Results: 50 (26 involuntary and 24 voluntary) questionnaires and eight (four voluntary and four involuntary) interviews were completed by the participants. Results from the quantitative data revealed a borderline main effect of retirement type on both mental health and mood disturbances. An exploratory analysis found retirees who weakly identified with the athletic role were less likely to experience severe mood disturbances and demonstrated higher levels of mental health than retirees who strongly identified with the athletic role. Information from qualitative data suggested participants who involuntarily retired and possessed a strong athletic identity experienced higher levels of mood disturbances (depression, frustrations, loss etc.), lower levels of mental health, identity loss, physical discomfort, negative effects of mind and body dualism as well as utilized maladaptive coping techniques than their counterpart who voluntarily retired or weakly identified with the athletic role. Conclusion: Both retirement types are subjected to various athletic and non-athletic demands and psychosocial effects of athletic retirement however, what sets them apart from experiencing a successful or unsuccessful transition into retirement is the intensity and severity of their emotional reaction to their retirement. Limitations of said study included a decrease in sample size, memory recall bias, the participant’s own bias, limited diversity of the sample population as well as the inability to verify the findings from the interviews. The following study can be implemented to aid researchers, retired or soon to be retired athletes, coaches and athletic personnel to comprehend the diverse areas of athletic retirement. Future research should aim to investigate the impacts of mood disorders, the utilization of psychologist or mental performance consultant during the retirement process as well as the effects of body dimensions in retired athletes. Lastly, a longitudinal study should be employed to examine the athlete’s emotional response and reaction throughout retirement (time of injury, during physiotherapy, post- surgery and recovery). Graduate

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