In a message dated 11/20/08 8:21:11 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > Regarding the body/mind, if the mind is embodied, then what are the limits > of the body? Skin surface in? Do we include bodily fluids and wastes as part > of the body? Do we include speech? Do we include things thrown from the > body? Where does the body begin and end? These may seem like ridiculous > questions but if there is a soul that is co-existent with the body or at one with > it, then we need to know the extension of the body, or the soul. > (1) Dualists tend to take a position about consciousness that they are -- or should be -- a bit uncomfortable with: It exists in time, but has no extension. I.e. it doesn't exist in "space". This is rather like the position of those who believe in mind-independent "abstractions" like "justice", "evil", "categories", "qualities", "essences", etc. -- those alleged entities are also accepted as having no extension. (2) You all many times have heard my mantra that all notion is indeterminate, indefinite, multiplex, and transitory. Add this: So are all "material" things. We tend to think that when we "indicate" an object -- like someone's body, or even a rock -- we're citing a stable, discrete, unitary object, the contents of which are determinate and distinctly bounded. Linguistically, we feel there is a "correspondence" of some kind between the word/name and such an object. William's good questions show that all these assumptions, though usually serviceable, are fundamentally unsound. ************** One site has it all. Your email accounts, your social networks, and the things you love. Try the new AOL.com today!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212962939x1200825291/aol?redi r=http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp %26icid=aolcom40vanity%26ncid=emlcntaolcom00000001)
