Q&A: Dualism and the Use of Matter
Dualism and the Use of Matter
Question
With God’s help,
Hello,
You argued that the solution that best reconciles the relationship between body, consciousness, and free choice is the dualistic picture.
But I wanted to understand: if a person wants to activate his body (for example, his hand), then if I understood correctly, there is an arousal of will (which is not connected to thought) without any prior cause. That brings about a physical change in our brain, which in turn sends electrical signals to the muscles of the hand, and thus the hand is raised.
But how does the connection work between the material world and the abstract spiritual will?
B. How is a person born with the knowledge to operate this incredibly complicated system, so that he knows how to use every part of the body? Isn’t that really a wonder?
Answer
The connection between soul and body is definitely a wonder, or at least something for which there is no scientific explanation, and meanwhile there is not even a language or conceptual framework in which one can think about the issue.
The question of how a person is born with this knowledge is not really a question. It is built into us by the Holy One, blessed be He, and/or by evolution.
Discussion on Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Evolution takes care of the fact that whoever doesn’t know how to move their limbs properly doesn’t survive.
But how would he know even a little how to move his limbs? The motor system is not directly connected to the thinking system.
As you can think A and do B. Or not think at all and still act.
Don’t we have to assume God in the background of the explanation, that He gave us basic items of knowledge like operating the body as first principles?
I think that if there were an explanation, it could be unified under a materialist theory, just as those people snatched the rest of the souls away from us.
If I understood correctly, is it like a first principle and self-explanatory?
But I didn’t understand how evolution can explain this. After all, there is no direct connection between general thought and moving the body. After all, you can raise your hand even without thinking about it, or think one thing and do something else.