The Importance of Ryle’s Criticism of Descartes’ Dualism
1. Introduction
A man is the one of the most intelligent creatures on the Earth and this is why he is usually interested in a number of questions, a lot of them are philosophical. Of course, philosophy isn’t an easy subject, it presupposes not only asking questions but also finding answers to them. It would be interesting to know what the great philosophers of the past thought about different issues and how their views have changed the world we are living in.
In this essay, we are going to focus on the work of one of the most prominent representatives of British philosophy – Gilbert Ryle. We will try to find out what his philosophic basis was and how it has influenced the development of philosophical thought in general. We will also touch upon such an important issue as the mind-body problem and find out Ryle’s attitude to it.
2. Gilbert Ryle’s Philosophic Basis
Gilbert Ryle was born in August, 1900, in Brighton, England. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and then became a fellow at Merton College, Oxford. Later he became a professor at University College London and then at Cambridge University. He was also a visiting professor at a number of American universities, including Harvard and Cornell.
Ryle is considered to be one of the founders of ordinary language philosophy – a movement that developed in Oxford in the middle of the 20th century and was associated with such names as J. L. Austin, John Searle, Paul Grice, and others. The main idea of this movement was that philosophy should be based on an analysis of ordinary language instead of using artificial concepts that are far from reality. This approach has been very influential in such areas as epistemology, aesthetics, ethics, etc.
Ryle is also known for his criticism of René Descartes’ dualism – the theory according to which there are two fundamentally different kinds of substance: mental and physical. This theory has been very influential in Western philosophy but Ryle believed that it was based on a number of false assumptions and led to a number of problems that were very difficult to solve.
3. The Mind-Body Problem
The mind-body problem is one of the most important issues in philosophy that has been debated by many philosophers for centuries. The basic question here is what kind of relationship exists between mind and body – are they two different substances or just different aspects of the same thing?
Descartes’ dualism is probably the most famous theory that attempts to answer this question. According to this theory, there are two fundamentally different kinds of substance: mental and physical. Mental substances are Cartesian egos – they are indivisible, immortal, and impossible to change or destroy; physical substances are extended objects that occupy space and can be divided into parts.
The problem with this theory is that it leads to a number of difficulties that are very difficult to solve. For example, if mental and physical substances are so different from each other, how can they interact? This issue is sometimes called the problem of interactionism or mind-body problem proper.
4. Descartes’ Dualism
Descartes’ dualism is probably the most famous theory that attempts to answer the mind-body problem. According to this theory, there are two fundamentally different kinds of substance: mental and physical. Mental substances are Cartesian egos – they are indivisible, immortal, and impossible to change or destroy; physical substances are extended objects that occupy space and can be divided into parts.
The problem with this theory is that it leads to a number of difficulties that are very difficult to solve. For example, if mental and physical substances are so different from each other, how can they interact? This issue is sometimes called the problem of interactionism or mind-body problem proper.
5. Ryle’s Criticism of Descartes
Ryle’s criticism of Descartes’ dualism is based on the idea that this theory is based on a number of false assumptions. For example, Ryle believes that the concept of mind as a Cartesian ego is incoherent and doesn’t make sense. He also believes that the interaction between mental and physical substances is impossible because they are so different from each other.
Ryle’s criticism of Descartes’ dualism is important because it led to the development of a new approach to the mind-body problem – functionalism. This approach is based on the idea that mind is not a substance but a function of the brain. This theory has been very influential in the development of cognitive science.
6. The Importance of Ryle’s Criticism
Ryle’s criticism of Descartes’ dualism is important because it led to the development of a new approach to the mind-body problem – functionalism. This approach is based on the idea that mind is not a substance but a function of the brain. This theory has been very influential in the development of cognitive science.
Ryle’s criticism of Descartes’ dualism is also important because it showed that the mind-body problem is not an easy issue to solve. This problem has been debated by many philosophers for centuries and it is still not clear what the correct answer is.