The Difference Argument

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The Difference Argument is used by dualists to show that the mind has properties the brain doesn't and is therefore a different kind of thing.

NOTES

  1. If the mind and some part of the brain, B, are identical, then the mind and B must have all properties in common
  2. The mind has a property, F, and B lacks F
    • S1: intentional aspect of thought
    • S2: sensations
    • S3: first-person experience
    • S4: unity of consciousness
      1. People have a united conscious experience
      2. Complex things cannot have a united consciousness
        • S1: consciousness is not additive
        • S2: a set is not a thing, so it doesn't have properties
      3. A simple physical thing does not have a united consciousness
        • O1: there could be a CPU in the brain that is the locus of all awareness
          • R1: there is no evidence that brains work this way and good evidence they don’t
          • R2: such a module would be complex, leading this argument to regress back to a simple physical particle with united consciousness, which would be strange
      4. So, mind has a property the body doesn’t
  3. So, the mind and B are not identical
  4. So, dualism is true

Further Reading

Mind, Matter, and Nature: A Thomistic Proposal for the Philosophy of Mind" by James Madden

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