Introduction
Are human beings composed of two parts, a material body and
a nonmaterial soul, or are human beings purely physical beings?
This question reflects a deep, but often unspoken, conflict within
our culture over views of the very nature of humans. The first
of these views is called dualism (body-soul dualism or mind-body
dualism), and the second is here called physicalism. While this
question is an old one, going back nearly to the beginning of
Western intellectual history, it is becoming more prominent at
the present time, due to developments in the cognitive and neurosciences.
While many religious believers hold a dualist view, these scientific
developments make it less and less plausible that we need the
concept of an immaterial mind or soul to account for human capacities
and behavior.
Within the physicalist camp there is another important distinction
between reductionist and nonreductionist views. Thus, we can distinguish
between "reductive physicalism" and "nonreductive
physicalism." The reductive physicalist says that humans
are purely physical beings and thus all of our thoughts, emotions,
and experiences are nothing but brain states. For example,
the laws of neurobiology could, in principle, explain all of human
life, including rationality, morality, and even religion. The
nonreductive physicalist, in contrast, says "yes," humans
are purely physical, but this leads us to recognize that it is
our brains (in our bodies and in social relationships) that enable
us to think, to make moral choices, and even relate to God. Thus,
the nonreductive physicalist position is equally opposed to dualism
and to reductive physicalism.
While many conservative believers worry about conflicts between
religion and science, it is more often argued that religious belief
and science are so different they cannot possibly relate, either
positively or negatively. However, this brief survey shows that
concepts of human nature in our culture are the product of both
religion and science, as well as philosophy. Presently, there
are conflicting views on the nature of a person. Thus a dialogue
between science and religion can help provide timely clarification
of these issues.
Email
link | Printer-friendly | Feedback
| Contributed by: Dr. Nancey Murphy
|
