PHILOSOPHY OF THE BODY

I. Historical Considerations: The Problem of Dualism What is Dualism? Basically dualism which is introduced by Plato is a theory that there are two kinds of substance; physical and mental substance. Physical substance means something that is material which is known as our body while mental substance, in human being, is what is considered as immaterial self or the soul.

According to Plato: The soul and body are two different substances and are separate with no substantial and natural connection characterizing a unity. Their relation, however, can be described only accidental and nominal. Henceforth, essential connection and interaction between the two are merely superficial.

According to Aristotle: - The body as matter and soul as form. - The soul must be a substance as the form of natural body potential with life, and [such] substance is an actuality. So the soul is the actuality of such a body.

- the soul is a function of an organized body and therefore is not a subject of independency and separate existence. - However, as a result of his opinion, the soul is not eternal but generated and therefore a subject of time and corruption.

The Christian Philosophers: 1. St. Augustine: - Man is the unity of body and soul. He can exist only as this unity. 2. St. Thomas Aquinas: -“The soul is not man.” It belongs to the nature of man to be composed of soul, flesh and bones.

According to Descartes: I rightly conclude that my essence consists only in my being a thinking thing [or a substance whose whole essence or nature is merely thinking]. And although I may, or rather, as I will shortly say, although I certainly do possess a body with which I am very closely conjoined;

nevertheless, because, on the one hand, I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in as far as I am only a thinking thing and unextended thing, and as, on the other hand, I possess a distinct idea of body, in as far as it is only an extended thing and unthinking thing, it is certain that I [that is, my mind, by which I am when I am] am entirely and truly distinct from my body and may exist without it.

CONCLUSION Descartes is actually proposing no clear elucidation of in what manner soul actually relates to body because he claims that mind is not directly affected by body. Yet we know that there is causal interaction between mind and physical world. Then, would it be right to suggest that mind is actually a physical thing? Descartes and his predecessor, Plato, fail to explain the natural and essential relation of body and soul.

The Approach of Materialism: - Materialist considers that a person is his body, nothing else but that, and what we understand as mind is nothing but bodily phenomena. According to them, human being should be studied in terms of physical methods.

- However, materialism possesses ambiguities and difficulties more than that of dualism. One classic objection is how can we explain the presence of thoughts. Are thoughts, pains, love, and hate merely blend or reactions of material products taking place in our body ? Can we, imaginatively, clone a complete physical human being and then ask it to show love?

- Suppose materialism is true, can we measure dimensions of pains, thoughts, love and other mental states as what we do with spaciotemporal substance such as kidney, brain or heart? Materialism then is caught into the same problem as previous theories.

A.The Primary Reflection: - the process of “ob-jectum” (“thrown in front”). This is a Cartesian approach. The body is analyzed, systematized and conceptualized. - the body becomes no longer my body but a body. “A body” is an objective idea apart from me. I have nothing to do with it nor does it have anything to do with my life. Gabriel Marcel:

A.The Secondary Reflection: - the process of “sub-jectum” (“thrown beneath”). “I am part of the thing I am investigating.” I have something to do with it and has something to do with me. - What exist is not just “a body” but “my body.” My body that is uniquely mine alone. This is a starting point of Marcel’s philosophy of the body.

What is meant by Marcel’s “my body” statement? 1.My body is mine and mine alone: I own my body. 2.I have a responsibility over my body and I take care of it, e.g., nourish it, let it sleep, bathe it, etc. 3.I have control over my body: I can do whatever I want it to do if it can, e.g., sit, walk, etc.

What is meant by Marcel’s “my body” statement? -The body that I can say I have is a body-object, “a body” that I or anybody can use… it treats the body as only a possession, its being mine loses its meaning. -Thus, the experience of my body is the experience of I- body (body-subject). There is no gap between me and my body. In short, I am my body. I cannot separate myself from my body. My being-in-the-world is not the bodily life alone nor the spiritual life alone but the life of an embodied spirit (‘etre incarnee’). -Myself is absolutely embodied – I cannot detach my body from myself and I cannot reduce my self to my body: I also experience myself as an I – spirit and will that can never be imprisoned in my flesh and bones. -Thus, there are two faces shown in my experience of my body: “I have my body” and “I am my body.”

The BODY as intermediary: A.This is an experience of self as being-in-the-world through my body. Through my body, my subjectivity is openness to the world and the world is opened to me; the world fills me, and I fill the world. B.Because of my body, I experience the world as separate from me. I am “not-world”, and the world is “not I”. I also experience the self as “outside” of the world, I am the one who sees and gives name to that and this. My body shows that I am not simply a thing among other things in nature. In other words, my body participates in the world but cannot be reduced to it.

The BODY as intersubjectivity: A.My body is also between me and others… the language of my body has its own grammar and rhetoric in expressing my interiority. Embodiment is the gesture and appearance of what I truly feel inside. I cannot say I love you if I do not show this love to you… etc. B.The paradox intersubjectivity: I can smile at my friends while suffering inside because of frustration. My body shows myself but I can also be a mask that hides what I truly think or feel.

The value of the BODY: A.My body has a unique value and dignity. It directs me not only to the world and to others but also to God. In 1 Cor. 6,15-18, St. Paul states, “You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ…”