Consciosness in Human Behavior - Ryle and Nagel Assignment

Consciosness in Human Behavior - Ryle and Nagel - Assignment Example The ‘thing’ that was there on earth was thus, not a real one, since it was a mere shadow that could not match up to the real idea of the thing. The soul, Plato believed, was immortal and heavenly, unlike the body, which would be discarded during death. The mind and the body, thus was split into two entities within the same human being. The mind, Plato felt, would return to its earlier form as soon as it left the corporeal frame, since the knowledge of its essence was present in itself and the soul had to only recollect this knowledge that was independent of the body (Platonic). The mind is thus given a superior position that would enable the person to aspire to attain a greater moral stature that would correspond with the nature of the soul. There are certain differences to the theory of dualism that Rene Descartes brings in. In Descartes’ theory of dualism, there is, like in Plato, a distinction between the mind and the body. Like Plato, he also identifies the mi nd with the soul. The essence of the human soul, Descartes held, was its ability to think and reason. The soul thus undergoes certain changes as a result of thought, unlike in the case of the theory of Plato where the soul would return to its former state following death. ... Works Cited â€Å"Cartesian Dualism†. all about philosophy. Accessed on 30th December, 2011 â€Å"Platonic dualism†. Philosophy Online. Accessed on 29th December, 2011 Consciousness in Human Behavior- Ryle and Nagel Thomas Nagel’s understanding of the concept of consciousness is a complex one that involves an understanding of the mind-body split that challenges Cartesian models. By invoking the model of the bat, Nagel states that the mind of a person can never be understood by another entirely since the experience of that person would be entirely different and such an understanding would require a substitution of one’s consciousness with that of the other person. This too, would fail to achieve the purpose, since the examined consciousness would have changed. The fluidity of the consciousness is what forms the basis of this theory that sheds light also on the mind-body split and critiques the reductionist views regarding it. The analogy of the bat is meant to make the impossibility of understanding the consciousness of another person. Gilbert Ryle gives an alternate understanding of the human consciousness. He reawakened the question of the relationship between the mind and the body by rejecting the theory of dualism. He believed that the mental and the physical could not be categorized as two separate categories and such a separation was according to him, a â€Å"category mistake† on the part of Descartes (LaFave). He believed that the intention that a person had could be formulated in different terms through turning the aspects of a person’s behavior and his or