Philosophy of Mind as a field of study focuses on the nature, features, and aspects of the human mind.

Introduction:

The philosophy of mind can therefore be regarded as a branch of philosophy that focuses on the mind, conscious experience, and the relation with the physical body, especially the neuronal networks. This field is based on what is referred to as the mind-body problem which deals with the question if mind and body are two distinct realities referred to as dualism or if mental states relate to physical states known as physicalism.

Cartesian Dualism also referred to as Dualism posits that mind and body are two different entities.

By contrast, physicalism argues that only physical causes are sufficient and that the brain and anything in it emerges from physical methods resulting in consciousness and awareness.

One of them is consciousness with an emphasis on the question of what it is like to be something or, in other words, the question of qualia. An example of this is David Chalmers’

‘hard problem of consciousness’

which proves one cannot even remain indifferent to the fact that physical processes in the brain cause subjective experiences.

The issue of mental causation deals with how a mental event is capable of causing an action, an issue that concerns both the dualist and the physicalist. These include functionalism and emergentism — modern theories that have various stances on the nature and the emergence of mental states.

This branch of philosophy is still very much active in the 21st century as scientists in this discipline use ideas from philosophy and sciences to explain the mind about the body.

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