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Rethinking Mind-body Dualism: A Buddhist Take on the Mind-body Problem |
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| Author |
Lin, Chien-te
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| Source |
Contemporary Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Journal
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| Volume | v.14 n.2 |
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| Date | 2013.11 |
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| Pages | 239 - 264 |
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| Publisher | Routledge |
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| Publisher Url |
https://www.routledge.com/
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| Location | Abingdon, UK [阿賓登, 英國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | Chien-Te Lin is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Religion and Humanity, Tzu-Chi University, Taiwan. Address: College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tzu Chi University, 67 Jie Ren Street, Hualien, Taiwan. |
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| Keyword | Mind & Body ; Philosophy of Mind; Truth -- Religious Aspects -- Buddhism; Buddha (The Concept); Cartesianism (Philosophy) |
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| Abstract | This paper is an effort to present the mind-body problem from a Buddhist point of view. Firstly, I show that the Buddhist distinction between mind and body is not absolute, but instead merely employed as a communicative tool to aid the understanding of human beings in a holistic light. Since Buddhism acknowledges a mind-body distinction only on a conventional level, it would not be fair to claim that the tradition necessarily advocates mind-body dualism. Secondly, I briefly discuss a response to Cartesian dualism from a Buddhist perspective and suggest that in this particular regard, the Buddhist approach may be likened to the ‘category mistake’ argument formulated by Gilbert Ryle. The fact that the Buddhist view does not accord with Cartesian dualism, however, does not imply that a monistic approach to the mind-body problem such as behaviourism, physicalism or biological naturalism is necessarily assumed. The Buddhist position could perhaps be best described as a middle way approach of ‘neither-duality-nor-identity’. Thirdly, I remain sceptical about the reductionist approach of accounting for mind merely on the level of brain or behaviour. In overlooking crucial ethical and axiological implications of mind, I argue that such an approach necessarily fails to impart a complete picture of mind. The Buddhist soteriological approach furthermore reveals certain law-like connections between mental attitudes and suffering which are for the most part overlooked in mainstream metaphysical explorations into the relation between mind and body. I thus endeavour to show why exploration into the link between mental phenomena, spiritual cultivation and the accumulation of karma is imperative to any comprehensive inquiry into the human mind. |
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| Table of contents | 1. Introduction 239
2. The Buddhist Mind-Body Distinction as merely Provisional 240
2.1 Various distinctions employed in Buddhism to explain how human beings operate as a whole 240
2.2 Conceptual distinctions on the conventional level as an expedient means 243
3. Buddhist middle-way approach toward the mind-body problem: neither disembodied mind nor absent-mind body 244
3.1 Viewpoints at odds with Cartesian dualism and a disembodied mind 244.
3.2 Viewpoints at odds with material monism and mindless body 247
3.3 A middle-way approach: toward the mind-body problem via neither duality nor identity 250
4. The karmic mind: why Buddhism views mind as being more than merely brain 250
4.1 The mind and its relation to karma 250
4.2 Karmic accumulation during the process of enactive cognition 252
4.3 The role of mental cultivation in pursuit of a life of value 253
4.4 Towards a more encompassing view on the mind-body problem 255
5. Conclusion 258
Notes 259
References 263
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| ISSN | 14639947 (P); 14767953 (E) |
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| DOI | 10.1080/14639947.2013.832081 |
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| Hits | 167 |
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| Created date | 2014.09.26 |
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| Modified date | 2017.07.14 |
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