QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

5.1.2. Re-evaluation of the position of the human being
Descartes stated that the thinking mind was not part of the dimension of nature’s mechanical
processes. 776 In philosophy, Descartes’ dualism gave birth to the mind-body problem, a solution
to which has been sought on the basis of ontological Dualism, Materialism and Idealism. In a
way, both Materialism and Idealism are tied to the dualistic approach: everything must ultimately
be reduced to either matter or mind, one or the other of Descartes’ fundamental domains. Strict
Dualism leads to Interactionism, while Materialists and Idealists can conclude that there is some
degree of Parallelism in material and spiritual phenomena. In spite of centuries of pondering,
however, none of these philosophical approaches have succeeded in offering a solution to the
problem of the relationship between mind and matter that is satisfactory to everyone. 777
In scientific circles, Materialism has been popular since the Enlightenment, even though the
great philosophers of the modern era did not accept it. They also criticized Dualism. When trying
to offer an overall picture of the world, Spinoza and Leibniz ran into serious difficulties because
of the commonly-accepted classical paradigm of science. 778 Kant came to the conclusion that
natural science was not able to deal with subjective questions concerning ethics and metaphysics.
The scientific approach to mind and the psychophysical problem, however, was clarified to some
degree when cognitive science provided the computer metaphor in the middle of the twentieth
century. Mind was viewed as software and matter was viewed as the hardware of a computer. In
Functionalism, it is not necessary for mind to be reduced to matter even if this approach is often
connected with Materialism. Functionalism can also be seen as being compatible with Dualism.
Mind-states do not need to be identified with brain-states even if they are somehow realised in
them. 779 For example, Patricia Churchland has argued that what counts for mentality is not the
material of the entity but its internal structure. 780
Regardless of whether Functionalism is connected to Materialism or Dualism, it still remains a
prisoner of the classical paradigm in just the same way as any of the great systems built by
philosophers in the modern era. Only the statistical conformity to laws of the quantum frame of
776 At the end of his Treatise on Light, Descartes explicitly says that “God or the rational souls present in the World
will never disturb the ordinary course of nature in any way”. Descartes 1999, 112.
777 The problem of psychophysical interactionalism or parallelism could not be satisfactorily solved by an idealism
or materialism which was not able to overstep the traditional mechanical view concerning physical reality.
778 Spinoza accepted Pantheism but had to reject free will because of deterministic physics. Leibniz proposed
Parallelism but was ultimately led to Idealism in order to guarantee subjective antonomy.
779 Revonsuo 2001, 58, 77. Cognitive science has commonly believed that intentional states could be explained
without mentioning consciousness in any way.
780 Churchland 1988.
297