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Descartes, Bloom and the duel of dualism
Luiz Guilherme Leite AMARAL1
When Descartes introduced the concept of Dualism, he was certain that this
idea answered the problem to most of his anxieties as well as the problem of the mind
and body. Given that these thoughts are philosophical speculations, once there is no
scientific evidence for such claims, nonetheless Dualism became one of the
foundations of modern religions.
The mind and the body become separate and yet inter-influential entities, and
that builds a structure to some other issues, such as consciousness, will and other
elements of the human nature. It also relies on the fact that if there is a part of us that
lingers on, then there must be a place where it goes when we perish. If we have a
mind that detach from us and a place where it goes for all eternity, we can assume that
these ideas came about to soothe basic existential crisis. “Where do we go”, “Why are
we here” and other questions may now be answered buy the principles of Dualism.
Paul Bloom, on the other hand, gives us a slight different understanding of this
concept of Dualism. While Descartes addresses his ideas to the existence, Bloom is
more concerned as if and how we develop the differentiation of body and mind and at
what stage of our lives. It doesn’t mean, though, that Bloom confronts Descartes
ideas. Rather, he gives one step further in this investigation. What Bloom offers is the
notion that, yes, human beings have this ability to think of themselves as a
combination of two greater elements: a body and a spirit. Moreover, it is shown that
human beings understand that there is a complex structure between the mind and the
body.
When children are asked if the rat inside the alligator’s belly misses its parents
of if it gets hungry, and they answer positively, even though they haven’t been
exposed to any magical thoughts like God, Jesus or souls, it get easier to understand
how these concepts are closer to a “common sense” rather than something that they
learnt during their lives. It doesn’t mean, though, that there is some kind of “belief
DNA” or something of that sort; it is an assumption that everybody makes once the
notion of the body is awaken.
1
Regular
student
on
the
Master’s
in
Communication
and
Culture
Program
at
University
of
Sorocaba,
Brazil.
Ministry
of
Education
CAPES
scholarship
granted
in
March
2015.
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We can say, based on this analysis, that Descartes and Bloom came up with
notions that overlap more than collide. Descartes focuses on the existential crisis of
the human being, whereas Bloom is more concerned on how, when and why these
thoughts are triggered in us. It is fair to remind that Dualism is on the realm of
speculations. Just because the majority of the population think there is a God and a
soul, it doesn’t mean that it is true. This is called Argumentum ad populum, a common
fallacy of religions.