Seth Russell wrote in message <363F9B7C.64E965EB at clickshop.com>...
>Ray Scanlon wrote:
>>> It is for this reason that I argue that people should use the word "soul"
>> instead of "mind" when referring to that which is aware. Let the brain
think
>> and let neuroscientists examine the brain. Let the soul (mind, self,
>> intellect) be aware of the constellations of active neurons in the
working
>> brain. Let the soul be aware of them as "thoughts".
>>I have not been following this train and apologize if this has already been
>covered. But to me there is a grand distinction between "mind" and "soul".
Now
>as these are natural language words they will be pointing to many different
>things in many different minds, but in my mind (and I hazard a guess in
most
>people's minds) the word "soul" carries with it a lot of religious
connotations
>that are not present in the "mind" word. Your paragraph above does not
contain
>any religious connections, so if you don't want those connotations, why not
just
>use the word "mind" and not confuse people with this other more
controversial
>baggage?
I suspect that if majority vote were to rule, the following might be
adopted:
Mind--that part or faculty of the human soul by which it knows and reasons
as distinguished from the power to feel and to will.
I say this because the large majority are religious and only the minority
deny the soul. My argument is that it is the brain that thinks, the soul is
aware only. Probably most who work in cognitive and allied sciences envision
"mind" as an homunculus that selects from the data proffered by the brain,
manipulates the data, comes to a conclusion, and forwards the decision to
the brain for execution. This won't due in today's neuroscience.
I feel that we can escape this homunculus by sticking with the brain as the
thinker and using "soul" when we consider that which is aware. When we talk
of that which is aware, we enter theology and should use "soul" to remind us
of what we do.
Ray
Those interested in how the brain works might look at
www.wsg.net/~rscanlon/brain.html
