(April 24, 2010 at 6:02 am)padraic Wrote: Frodo, I don't think anyone even implied that. The impression I got was that she was beyond human suffering, What I understood was people here are saying are saying it WOULD BE cruel if she had a spirit trapped in that body .Yeah I think the mind is part of the physical body. I don't think it's 'physical' like we understand simple physical objects to be... but rather... in the sense of a combination bio electric activity stored in the brain. To get from physical substance to thought jumps the physical fence IMO.
I'm aware of the body mind dichotomy about which people have argued for centuries. I disbelieve in a mind separate from the body or of one capable of surviving death. My position is that the mind is a process,not an object,it is the dynamic of the living brain,a product of the brain in action,just as motion is a product of the motor of a car. (clumsy analogy, but I don't claim to be a philosopher)
The reasons for my position: Skepticism: I demand proof,but so far have seen none.
Another basic question is "Which mind?". The mind changes a little moment to moment and radically year-to-year. What happens if a mind is damaged or the owner is nuts? Does it become prefect at death? Which version? Where and by what mechanism is the perfect version backed up? (to use a computer analogy) Does God have a special external hard drive for each person,or does he just miraculously make everything perfect? That brings me back to my demand for proof.
On to spirit... my understanding is then beyond thought but instinctual. Physicality has no influence on it, so brain damage is irrelevant. I just think it's a different subject.
