Philosophy

A Philosophy of the Mind of Man
Versus
A Philosophy of the Mind of Animals
The mind is considered as the most powerful part of a humans body and its processes. It controls every single part and functions of the brain and the body. Researchers have conducted several studies about the philosophy of the mind and its functions. In learning about the many mysteries of this matter, researches saw another issue regarding the minds of two existing creatures in the world  the human beings and the animals. What is the philosophy of the mind of humans and animals What are the distinctions between these two subjects Is it possible to understand the way animals minds function or work These are some of the questions that this paper aims to answer. This paper will also try to touch some of the problems seen within the past few conducted studies.

The philosophy of humans mind discusses matters regarding the nature of it, its mental events, its mental functions, mental properties and its consciousness. It also gives focus to the relationship of the mind to humans physical body, predominantly the brain.

In the 5th century BC, several philosophers from the West made arguments about the relationship of the between the mind and the body. They argue that the mind and body are not ontologically separate kinds of entities. This theory is called Monism. During the 17th century, several philosophers believe in a different perspective. Rene Descartes, Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers consider that the mind is an existing substance that is independently working.  The mental and the physical aspects of the mind seem to have dissimilar properties. This theory was later formulated and was called Dualism. These theories branched into different perspectives as time passed by. The evolution of the mind is continuously developing over the past years.

 Evolution is a result of two contradicting forces. This process involves an independent matter which is then separated into smaller matters and may sooner or later branch out into new ones. According to Charles Darwins theory of the Revolution, all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. Whatever it is that exists today came from a matter that is common to all. Every species evolves and so as the minds of humankind. This is a development that took place in the philosophy of humans mind.

Based on a Darwinian approach, there is an evolution that took place in the mind of human beings, and the action done of the societies to give support to the less able members was an aspect of this evolution. Darwins theory states that its all biology and survival of the fundamental biological creature. Sympathy, love, and preference, as a product of the humans perception, are disregarded within the principles of Darwinism and modern social theoretical frameworks.

Aside from the theory of Evolution, various theories have evolved through time regarding mans consciousness. Dualism has evolved into various branches such as Substance and Property Dualism, interactionism, parallelism and occasionalism. Monism, on the other hand, states that there are no essential partitions between the mind and the body of a human being. Monism later evolved into physical monism, which in turn, branched out into different types of theoretical frameworks such as behaviorism, functionalism, emergentism and more.

The mind of a man affects several subjects such as the nature of death, of emotions, of perceptions and of memory. In the context of philosophy of mind, two ideas have produced special consideration the fee will and the self. Based on this idea, natural laws absolutely determine the course of the materialistic world. Human behavior and decisions would be revealed by natural laws.

Another entity that the philosophers consider is that of the animals and the philosophy of their mind. Evolutionists believe that there are differences between the mind of humans and animals. A question is raised upon whether animals possess any concepts of mentality, such as beliefs or desires.

In an animal consciousness, there is no clearly agreed upon sense in which the term consciousness is used. In folk psychology, the term consciousness has a massive number of purposes that may not be resolvable into a consistent concept. However, several useful peculiarities among various concepts of perceptions were made, and with the help of these peculiarities it is possible to gain precision on the significant questions that remain about how animal thinks.

There are two types of consciousness that also exist in the philosophy of animals mind. These types are called the phenomenal consciousness and self-consciousness which caused controversy when applied to non-human species. Phenomenal consciousness is a type of consciousness that is qualitative, subjective, experiential, or phenomenological aspects of conscious experience. This states that there is a possibility that there can be something it is like to be a member of other entities. Self-consciousness, on the other hand, refers to whether any animals have the capability of ascribing mental states to others.

In the philosophy of animals mind, there are various philosophical theories that can be of great help in trying to understand the said idea. Dualism can also be applied. Dualistic theories of the mind refute the idea that it can be explained for in the recent terms of the natural sciences. Rene Descartes, the first who formulated dualism, believes that animals lack minds and that animals do not have any rational thoughts compared of that of the humans. He based this perception into the facts that animals do not use any human language and animals cannot reason out generally. In this claim that animal behavior does not require any centralistic explanation, he therefore concluded that there is no basis to say that animals are created with minds.

Physicalist accounts of consciousness studied the philosophical consequences of identifying perceptions. Neurofunctional accounts and representationalist accounts also evolved as researchers try to investigate the mystery with animals way of thinking.

Current scientific investigations relevant to animal consciousness were made to further enhance the flow of this discussion. With the help of behaviorism, psychology and ethology, an increase in the number of animal studies that have some bearing on animals perceptions has been considered. Some of these studies pay more attention on several experiences, such as pain or emotion others focus on thinking skills like self-awareness that can be compared with human consciousness. Veterinary practitioners these days study the basic principles on how to recognize animal pain.

There are many similarities and differences between the philosophies of humans mind and animals mind based on the facts and theories discussed in this paper but there are other distinctive characteristics between the two aspects where no other scientific explanations are needed. These are only some of the simple, but evident factors that make humans distinct from animals .In these specific observations, one does not need any scientific or technological devises to examine irreducible intricacy.

Humans, in particular, can recognize humor. No other species has the ability to appreciate, create or express humor for this requires creativity and the ability to separate oneself from ones environment to see strange, fantastic or ironic things.

The sense of appreciation whether it is related to non-materialistic or materialistic point of view is something that only humans possess.

Humans also have the sense of time Animals are only aware of there own body clocks but could not relate to others time.

Animals lack the possession of rational souls. The human soul allows man to think logically, to question and to create. Humans are able to significantly surpass the potentials of animals because of this extraordinary, distinctive spiritual element.

Although animals and humans are both guided by the principle of Darwins survival of the fittest, human beings, having rational minds, value death more compared to non-human species. Humans have deeper meaning for morality. Humans value the meaning of life. No animal considers its purpose for living nor would it be willing to give its life for specific reasons.

Nowadays, the contemporary world view is according to hypothetical scientific theories and thinking about Man, the universe, and his relationship to the universe around him. There are a lot more similarities and differences regarding the philosophy of mans mind and the animals consciousness. These studies will continuously evolve into various ideas and will never stop until precise facts are seen and discovered. The mind will keep on working until the mystery regarding its existence has not yet been resolved.