Mind-Body Dualism in the Terri Schiavo Case?
O.k., I can't believe I've gotten sucked into writing about this case so much, but it's like a horrific traffic accident, from which I am unable to avert my mental gaze...
So, to most of us the Christian right's position on this case seems inexplicable. But one thing that would explain it is their belief in mind-body dualism. For those of us (Aristotelians and their kin in this regard) who think that minds come embodied or they don't come at all, finding out that her cerebral cortex is basically liquified is sufficient for concluding that Ms. Schiavo is dead, her body a mindless husk.
However, someone convinced of the truth of substance dualism might not be convinced by the same evidence. If one thinks that Ms. Schiavo is essentially a non-physical substance with only a tenuous connection to her physical body, then the destruction of her cortex would seem less significant. On such a view it would be possible for Ms. Schiavo to be fully conscious even though her brain is destroyed. (Of course, problems about mind-body interaction would be particularly acute in that case.)
This seems to be the best explanation for what many of those on the right are saying. They seem to think that Ms. Schiavo is "in there" somewhere, looking out on the proceedings, fully conscious, panicked, her fully-functioning mind frantically trying to get her malfunctioning body to signal to us that it is alive. Or, alternatively, her non-physical mind is dormant, yet still in there somewhere, essentially undamaged by the destruction of her cortex, patiently awaiting some treatment that will again give it control of her body.
As many have pointed out before, apparent cases of moral conflict are very often actually disagreements about non-moral matters. In this case, as in the controversy about abortion, much of the disagreement may hinge on a non-moral, metaphysical disagreement.
O.k., I can't believe I've gotten sucked into writing about this case so much, but it's like a horrific traffic accident, from which I am unable to avert my mental gaze...
So, to most of us the Christian right's position on this case seems inexplicable. But one thing that would explain it is their belief in mind-body dualism. For those of us (Aristotelians and their kin in this regard) who think that minds come embodied or they don't come at all, finding out that her cerebral cortex is basically liquified is sufficient for concluding that Ms. Schiavo is dead, her body a mindless husk.
However, someone convinced of the truth of substance dualism might not be convinced by the same evidence. If one thinks that Ms. Schiavo is essentially a non-physical substance with only a tenuous connection to her physical body, then the destruction of her cortex would seem less significant. On such a view it would be possible for Ms. Schiavo to be fully conscious even though her brain is destroyed. (Of course, problems about mind-body interaction would be particularly acute in that case.)
This seems to be the best explanation for what many of those on the right are saying. They seem to think that Ms. Schiavo is "in there" somewhere, looking out on the proceedings, fully conscious, panicked, her fully-functioning mind frantically trying to get her malfunctioning body to signal to us that it is alive. Or, alternatively, her non-physical mind is dormant, yet still in there somewhere, essentially undamaged by the destruction of her cortex, patiently awaiting some treatment that will again give it control of her body.
As many have pointed out before, apparent cases of moral conflict are very often actually disagreements about non-moral matters. In this case, as in the controversy about abortion, much of the disagreement may hinge on a non-moral, metaphysical disagreement.
posted by Winston Smith at
5:40 AM
10 Comments:
Seems to me that that an empathetic dualist who thinks Ms. Schiavo is in there somewhere but completely disconnected to the body would either favor disconnecting the feeding tube or be entirely indifferent to the fate of the body. I remain convinced that the merits of the Schiavo case are not really driving the vocal advocates of reinserting the feeding tube (the political advocates, not the family members who are directly involved). The abortion issue is the driver. Keeping a person in PVS alive = culture of life = pro-life = ban all abortions when the life of the mother is not in danger.
I agree, DLev, that we'd still have reason to let her body die even if dualism were true.
As for the other part--I dunno. You could be right. This is the kind of thing my friend Beth the sociologist is always saying to me--that disagreements aren't always about what they're about. I always see this kind of thing in terms of evaluating the reasoning explicitly given...but clearly that's not always the best way to understand what's going on.
Is dualism on the list of faith-based doctrines of the right? Like global warming isn't man-caused, that oil is an infinite resource, that supply side economics is fair.
I agree with DLev that this is all really about something else. The people to whom the 'something else' matters don't necessarily have to believe; just exploit their followers who don't have the most thought-out worldview, and will believe most anything based on faith, so long as it gives them the warm fuzzys.
...
How the debate would change if she could be saved and recover completely using embryonic stem cells.
"(M)uch of the disagreement may hinge on a non-moral, metaphysical disagreement."
Aaaaaaaaah. I can see now the planet you've been orbiting, WS.
But I'm unaware of anything having been proven metaphysically. Perhaps I'm wrong.
But if I'm not, then it seems we should proceed firstly from our uncertainty about things, as in, "What if I'm wrong?"
Well, I'm a fallibilist to the core, tvd--but fallibilism seems to give the advantage to atheism, if to anyone, no?
"Fallibilist," eh? I didn't know that one. I like it.
I suppose next we move to the question of harm.
I don't think they see the issue as mind-body so much as soul-body.
wmr
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