Post by zee on Nov 13, 2017 23:43:36 GMT
Emotions, feelings, mind and body
Damasio claims (p 184) that his work on emotions and feelings is "especially pertinent to the debate about the mind-body problem." What are the most relevant points/examples he might cite if someone asked him to elaborate the connection he hypothesizes between mind and body.
Emotions and feelings are described by Damasio where emotion being the changes in bodily states and thus creating a body map which can be perceived by the somatosensory regions of the brain as feeling. The mind-body problem discusses whether they are separate entities (substance dualism) or rather exist as one (aspect dualism) where the mind consists of the thoughts, conscious, etc, and the body is the physical characteristics. Emotion can be seen as the mapping of the body proper through built in sensory detectors which allows the ability to perceive external objects or events. These in turn allows creations and manipulations of mental images for execution of automatic and deliberate responses which can be viewed as the feeling aspect. These mental images are found in the mind which is seen as an evolutionary improvement in homeostatic regulation. This is seen through the example where a patient undergoing epilepsy loses bodily function where the somatosensory region of the brain stops receiving information and the patient becomes unconscious where the mind stays conscious in order to survive. The mind is a way for looking after the body proper and is a relevant point in showing the aspect dualism in the mind-body problem.
Damasio claims (p 184) that his work on emotions and feelings is "especially pertinent to the debate about the mind-body problem." What are the most relevant points/examples he might cite if someone asked him to elaborate the connection he hypothesizes between mind and body.
Emotions and feelings are described by Damasio where emotion being the changes in bodily states and thus creating a body map which can be perceived by the somatosensory regions of the brain as feeling. The mind-body problem discusses whether they are separate entities (substance dualism) or rather exist as one (aspect dualism) where the mind consists of the thoughts, conscious, etc, and the body is the physical characteristics. Emotion can be seen as the mapping of the body proper through built in sensory detectors which allows the ability to perceive external objects or events. These in turn allows creations and manipulations of mental images for execution of automatic and deliberate responses which can be viewed as the feeling aspect. These mental images are found in the mind which is seen as an evolutionary improvement in homeostatic regulation. This is seen through the example where a patient undergoing epilepsy loses bodily function where the somatosensory region of the brain stops receiving information and the patient becomes unconscious where the mind stays conscious in order to survive. The mind is a way for looking after the body proper and is a relevant point in showing the aspect dualism in the mind-body problem.
