The Mind-Body Problem Today

Abstract

An old philosophical problem, the mind-body problem, has not been yet solved by philosophers or scientists. Even if in cognitive neuroscience has been a stunning development in the last 20 years, the mind-body problem remained unsolved. Even if the majority of researchers in this domain accept the identity theory from an ontological viewpoint, many of them reject this position from an epistemological viewpoint. In this context, I consider that it is quite possible the framework of this problem to be wrong and this is the main reason the problem could not be solved. I offer an alternative, the epistemologically different world's perspective, which replaces the world or the universe. In this new context, the mind-body problem becomes a pseudo-problem.

The Science of Self, Mind and Body

“…This suggests independent existence of the inner self being away from the physical self/body. Vacariu (2011), a philosopher at the University of Bucharest proposed a theory of "epistemologically different worlds" (EDWs) in investigating the mind-body problem in humans. He stated that the human subjectivity, the "I" is knowledge.…”

“…A clear relationship among self, mind and body in humans is still not known in philosophy and science because of lack of human data that would enable to explain it objectively (Gusnard, 2009;Vacariu, 2011;Dresp-Langley & Durup, 2012).…”

“…To my knowledge, there seem to be no scientific articles in the literature of philosophy and science that clearly explain the relationship among self, mind and body in humans (Gusnard, 2009;Vacariu, 2011). In this study, an attempt is made to propose a theory that the inner, true self and the physical, false self coexist in humans; and correspond to the "I WILL" and the "I WANT" selves of McGonigal (2012), respectively; and in addition, the inner self controls the physical self, interacting with the prefrontal cortex of the brain.…”

Artificial Intelligence Inheriting the Historical Crisis in Psychology: An Epistemological and Methodological Investigation of Challenges and Alternatives

“…As representatives of this impasse, we find statements regarding issues such as the mystery of consciousness that is yet to be conceived and far from being understood or claims that consciousness is a black hole or that there are still no answers to the posed questions. Other researchers have considered consciousness to be a negative reflection of brain processes or brain hallucinations and an illusion that cannot be grasped through the sciences but only through certain religious and contemplative practices (see e.g., O’Rourke, 1993 ; Taylor, 2000 ; Chella and Manzotti, 2011 ; Vacariu, 2011 ; Carruthers, 2017 ; Oakley and Halligan, 2017 ; Seth, 2017 ; Varela et al, 2017 ; Lu et al, 2021 ). Some researchers have suggested that the mind-body problem is a pseudoproblem (e.g., Vacariu, 2011 )!…”

“…Other researchers have considered consciousness to be a negative reflection of brain processes or brain hallucinations and an illusion that cannot be grasped through the sciences but only through certain religious and contemplative practices (see e.g., O’Rourke, 1993 ; Taylor, 2000 ; Chella and Manzotti, 2011 ; Vacariu, 2011 ; Carruthers, 2017 ; Oakley and Halligan, 2017 ; Seth, 2017 ; Varela et al, 2017 ; Lu et al, 2021 ). Some researchers have suggested that the mind-body problem is a pseudoproblem (e.g., Vacariu, 2011 )! These views are not ontologically and epistemologically new.…”