You are to consider, and to respond to, each of the doctors

Doctors ' Arguments

Abstract

This seeks to examine several arguments presented by three doctors concerning the presence of mental states in a non-human brain and posit the writer 's own reasoning and conclusion . The three arguments will be presented along with the writer 's commentary on each . After careful examination of the arguments and reading various sources , the writer has come to a conclusion that non-human brains are capable of mental states albeit extremely limited ones In the matter of mental states , it would be useful for the writer of this

essay to first define the mental state . For purposes of this essay a mental state will include conditions or processes that are performed exclusively by thinking and feeling organisms

Therefore , in examination of the arguments , the capacities of thinking and feeling are key to the presence of mental states . It is imperative that the brain in examination should be able to induce emotion and thought

It must be noted that the patient in question could be the writer herself

The first doctor posits that the patient in question is not capable of thinking and feeling , because of the absence of the soul . Thus it is established that the patient in question does not have a soul and is not perhaps human

Personally , the writer finds it even more difficult to explain the concept of the soul than that of mental states . Mental states may be recognized and even documented , however , in the field of evidence , souls have not been documented or recognized

Perhaps the doctor in this argument would equate the soul to the mind an entity which is hidden and whose inner workings in the capacity of the human body are mysterious and unexplainable but are thought to function fundamentally for human existence

In Gilbert Ryle 's examination of Descartes ' position on the matter (1949 , the separation of mind and body are presented to give way for the understanding of mental states in a separate fashion . However , Ryle mentions the difficulty in examining the mind because of the mystery of its powers and processes (Ryle , 1949

If we were to follow Ryle 's work , the mind presents a consciousness or entity separate from physical space and intangible to the senses . The processes which it undertakes are not witnessed at all and it is sometimes even perceived that these processes may not exist . The fact that these processes cannot be monitored give venue to its questionability . For the writer , explaining the presence of mental states through the soul which can be similar to the mind is insufficient because of the difficulty in verification

Also , Ryle explains the difficulty in seeking to explain the causality of the mind 's processes (Ryle , 1949 . If such a mysterious and invisible entity exists , how can it directly cause so many actions ? Also , the congruence of such actions is questionable , such as how a will can cause a perception to scratch his nose (Ryle , 1949

The second doctor 's argument posits that only organic...