POSITIONS ON THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM


MONISM - Everything is explained in terms of one kind of reality.

1) Materialism - Everything is physical and ultimately explainable by physics and chemistry.

2) Idealism - Everything is mental; Even the so-called physical world is a construction of human consciousness and perception.


DUALISM - Physical and mental entities both exist and they operate according to different principles.

1) Interactionism - Body and mind can influence each other.

2) Epiphenomenalism - Mental events are by-products of physical experience.

3) Psychophysical Parallelism - An environmental experience causes both mental and bodily responses at the same time, but the two are totally independent of each other.

4) Double Aspectism - The person cannot be divided - There are two aspects of the individual that do not interact but they can also not be separated.

5) Preestablished Harmony - Mind and body are different but they are coordinated and kept in synchrony by some external agent.

6) Occasionalism - An intervening agent initiates changes in one realm that cause changes in the other realm.