Topic Four:  The Mind/Body Problem

Text book reading

(Don’t forget to click “Next” to the end of the assigned chapter)

The Reading Selection from Ludwig Feuerbach

Definitions (read at least the first paragraph or so)

Plato versus Aristotle

Eliminative Materialism

Substance Dualism

Physicalism

    Arguments for and against physicalism 

Primary Sources

 

A Treatise of Human Nature Part IV "Identity" by David Hume 1711 (Edinburgh, Scotland) - 1776

(Edinburgh, Scotland)

"A Treatise on Man" by Rene DesCartesBiography and Overview 1596  La Haye en Touraine [now Descartes] 1650 (aged 53) Stockholm, Sweden

On "Mind" Excerpts from the Dao de jing  Laozi or "Lao tzu" Biography and Overview

Powell Point

Mushin: "No Mind" in Zen Buddhism

by Eric Sisco through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org This excellently researched piece explores the nature of and role No Mind doctrine plays in Zen Buddhism. The animation of Takuan is original and the tracing of the origins of Buddhism from Bodhidharma to the Shaolin sect and on to Japan is an invaluable lesson.

Kukai and Socrates

by Ian Gilderson and Diamond through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org This piece analyzes the mind/body dualism as presented for Socrates by Plato compared to the mind/body integration as presented by Kukai (ca. 9th century CE Japan). We see far from a separation, in this Japanese tantric tradition the great "kobo Daishi" or bringer of dharma to Japan, Kukai "Ocean of Emptiness" argues against the classical Greco-Roman view of absolute separation.

Parfit and the Buddha on No Self

by Leinweber through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org This very interesting piece examines the similar though not quite the denial of the individual, unchanging self from the perspective of Derek Parfitt and the Buddha. Nice, thoughtful piece

Asanga: Founder of Mahayana Yogacara Buddhism

by Cale Bakken with instructor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II., opensourcebuddhism.org
This very nice project examines the life and thought of Asanga, 3rd-4th century Indian founder of the Yogacara or "Yoga-praxis" school. We get a nice picture of the eight levels of consciousness, the mechanism of reincarnation and the nature of habitual thought patterns that bind one to the "convolution" or sansara.

 

See the inner life of a single cell here:  xvivo-lifeofcell-.avi

Understanding the Eight Consciousnesses of Buddhist Yogacara Philosophy  - 2003 by Mattingly

A Buddhist Philosophy of the Body    - 2003 by Hermany

The Nadi or Energy Channels of the Subtle Body in Tantric Philosophy  - 2003 by Kyle Mealey