The problem of body and mind, their relationship and interconnection has occupied
the minds of philosophers and researches for centuries. A number of theories
was created in order to resolve this problem. Searle gives us new theory explaining
mind and body relations. His views are fresh and innovative and many scientists
agree that his original approach can overcome many contradictions and counterparts
of the theories of the past. Searle rejects dualistic approach, which regards
mind and body like two separate substances. Searle also criticizes monists who
turn either to materialism, explaining the mind as the part of material world,
or to idealism, regarding everything as ultimately mental. The dualistic approach
was extremely popular during the last century. Searle criticizes Decorates’
dualism between mind and body as such separation leaves no space for consciousness.
He also rejects behaviorists, epiphenominologist, funcionalist and skepticist
approaches. Searle created his own theory, which got the name “biological
naturalism”. His main argument is that “conscious states are real
phenomena in the real world”(Searle). He states that latest scientific
innovations give proofs to his theory. The theory is surprisingly simple and
Searle explains the fact, that it hadn’t been discovered earlier by the
low level of technical progress. Searle states that by finding the solution
of mind – body problem he resolved the central problem concerning this
subject. He discovered the way the mind relates to the rest of the world.
He states that the mind is a part of nature and it was developed in the process
of biological evolution. This makes the mind the part of physical world. The
mind is an operation of brain and possess same nature as neuron or synapse but
stands organizationally higher. Searle states that modern science gives a log
of opportunities to support his theses. Nowadays it became possible to study
the development of mind on the example of animals. We can also find proves that
most living vertebrate creatures possess conscious. These are proofs that mind
and consciousness had been developed in the process of evolution.
So, our mind is fully determined by our brain. Brain is the cause of the existence
of the mind and also the mind is a feature of brain. He states that “Mental
phenomena are caused by neurophysiological processes in the brain and are themselves
features of the brain.” (Searle, 54). Searle gives water as an example
to illustrate his thesis. If we study the relations between the water (H2O)
and liquidity we will find that water possess the feature of liquidity. Same
the mind is the feature of brain. At the same time the feature of liquidity
is determined by the molecular structure of the water. It’s not an extra-quality
of the water molecules but the one of the molecularly features. “The liquid
state of this water can be causally dependent on the behavior of the molecules,
and can also be a feature of the system made up of the molecules?" (Searle).
So, Searle describes two levels of event and phenomena and these levels and
micro level and macro level. Micro level defines macro level but at the same
time it is identical with it. Molecules make the micro level in the example
with water while liquidity makes macro level. If we turn back to mind and brain
correlation we will see that the mind is a macro level of brain and neurons
make its micro level. So, if we apply Searle’s conclusion to the mind
and brain correlation, we will see that the mind is caused by neurons and at
the same time it is a feature of brain. Expanding these conclusions we will
see that mental is also the part of the physical. There can be no division to
physical and mental any more. Everything derives from physical but some things
have mental-physical and others have non-mental physical nature. A person can
not have mind without a brain but they do not make one unite and stay two different
things. The mind represents mental reality while the brain represents physical
one. Mind and brain are both real but present different types of reality. Searle
tries to prove that being the cause for mind, brain possess mind as its feature.
From the first sight it may seem that mind and brain are identical. Knowing
about possible critics of such an approach, Searle has made a ready answer for
those, who will blame him. To escape controversy, he states that mind and brain
are different things and mind doesn’t cause brain. He says that “Either
you have dualism and an unintelligible account of causation or you have an intelligible
account of causation and abandon the idea of the causal efficacy of the mental
in favor of some version of the identity thesis with an attendent epiphenomenalism
of the mental aspects of psycho-physical events.”(Searle) So, the mind
is described as a higher aspect of brain and thus it possess same physical nature
as brain does but being its higher aspect it also possess some additional characteristics.
So, mental things can easily interact with physical things, as they both possess
physical nature. Searle states that when the brain causes mind to do something
the result is achieved by the move of neurons to the mind. At the same time
when the direction comes from the mind the same process is turned on and the
neurons give directions to the mind again. This proves Searle’s thesis
that all the direction come from the brain, not mind.
Sources
1. Stumpf, Samuel Enoch (1993), Philosophical Problems, McGraw-Hill Humanities
