The mind and matter duality

Hi everyone!

In this meeting we will try to discuss an age old philosophical debate that has been a favorite of many (mine included), and has interesting consequences on our world-views and understanding/experience of reality.

It deals with the inherent (for some, apparent) division between our inner and the outer world. The inner world being our world of personal experience - full of thoughts and emotions. The outer world being the material reality that feeds our senses of sight, hearing, smell etc. While we can split apart the thinking organ of a person, the brain, we still cannot access their perceptions inside of it. This division that we have inherited, results in the dual worldview - which is mind (inner) and matter (outer). Also called Cartesian duality.

We will discuss the following questions that hop around the topic, allowing us to explore, feel free to suggest more!

• 1. What do you think are the fundamental attributes of matter or physical world? E.g. space, time, mass, energy etc.
• 2. What are the attributes of your mental space? How would you describe your mental world?
• 3. Do you think that the two are separable? What notion did you have before we explicitly thought about this?
• 4. Do you think we experience the world without any personal bias? If not, then do we all hold a personal reality which is distinct and separate from other's?
• 5. Do you think it is possible to observe one's experience, without interfering with it?
• 6. Where do you perceive yourself to reside? Is it in your head, your chest, your stomach?

Some interesting material to read:
On oneness of the mind (What is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xEGVveSLqDmpkTJeR7fpsVIw-i-MGW6a/view?usp=sharing

Mind-matter in Indian philosophy (Samkhya): https://philarchive.org/archive/SCHSPA-31

Random quote(s):
"How is it, that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness comes about as a result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the Dkinn when Aladdin rubbed his lamp."- Huxley, 1886

"Suppose the mind to be reduced even below the life of an oyster.
Suppose it to have only one perception, as of thirst or hunger.
Consider it in that situation. Do you conceive of any thing but
merely that perception? Have you any notion of self or
substance? If not, the addition of other perceptions can never
give you that notion." - David Hume

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