Threefold man?

[LibraryOwl]

Is man composed of body, mind, and soul? I answer that he is not, he is merely flesh.

Many traditional systems of thought say that men have a body, a mind, and a soul. These systems of thought also claim that the three relate to eachother in certain ways (i.e. "a healthy body is a healthy mind.")

This view- that man has a threefold nature- seems to have some basis in reality. We can do something that pleases our "soul" more than our body, and mental knowledge can give aid in spiritual struggle. But ultimately, it seems to shrink back as inadequate (not incorrect) in the face of modern science. Even with our limited understanding of the brain (which being strictly a part of the body,) we observe that its operations seem to include the mental and the spiritual. Also we understand more about the chemicals operating in our bodies, and they seem to explain many spiritual feelings (the burning in the breast, for example.) So it seems that an understanding of man can be constructed whereby he is only flesh.

I argue that man is only flesh because ruin to the flesh can mean ruin to the "soul." I would believe strongly in the moral action and freewill of man, but it seems like a powerful head injury can turn a saint into a psychopath quite entirely free of freewill, so freewill is not so free as it supposes, neither is the moral action of the soul, even its essence. I think that the elements of the "threefold nature" are so inseparable from one another that they are literally the same, that is, the flesh. This makes philosophic and scientific sense, most espcially because it is possible someday that we could explain, even create the brainwaves and bodily functions behind each of the threefold parts of man. Torture has already given us an eye into forceful operations upon the "mind" and the "soul." We could perfect torture to the point where resistance was not even possible- where we could simply hook up a couple of wires and press a couple of buttons and make a man believe whatever we wanted him to. In the light of such future horrors, what is the soul? What is the mind?

 

[FishFace]

Is man composed of body, mind, and soul, or is he merely flesh? I answer that he is not.

I think I understand body - as extended, material, physical thing. But you're going to have to define mind and soul.

I argue that man is only flesh because ruin to the flesh can mean ruin to the "soul." I would believe strongly in the moral action and freewill of man, but it seems like a powerful head injury can turn a saint into a psychopath quite entirely free of freewill, so freewill is not so free as it supposes, neither is the moral action of the soul, even its essence. I think that the elements of the "threefold nature" are so inseparable from one another that they are literally the same, that is, the flesh. This makes philosophic and scientific sense, most espcially because it is possible someday that we could explain, even create the brainwaves and bodily functions behind each of the threefold parts of man. Torture has already given us an eye into forceful operations upon the "mind" and the "soul." We could perfect torture to the point where resistance was not even possible- where we could simply hook up a couple of wires and press a couple of buttons and make a man believe whatever we wanted him to. In the light of such future horrors, what is the soul? What is the mind?

Well, there's not much of an argument here, but you basically seem to saying that mind and soul supervene on the body. I agree with you, but you haven't presented any evidence except for the chap who got his personality revamped with an iron bar to the forebrain.

 

[LibraryOwl]

Okay, I'll try to define my terms, how about I say that the mental encompasses intellectual action, the physical encompasses physical action, and the spiritual encompasses all other action. Therefore the mind, the body and the soul are said to encompass the three respectively, but I say that all three can be explained as physical actions, so there is no soul or mind.

Im most worried about the definition of the soul, does it sound alright? It could be important to proceed with defending my argument.

 

[FishFace]

Okay, I'll try to define my terms, how about I say that the mental encompasses intellectual action, the physical encompasses physical action, and the spiritual encompasses all other action. Therefore the mind, the body and the soul are sai to encompass the three respectively, but I say that all three can be explained as physical actions, so there is no soul or mind.

Im most worried about the definition of the soul, does it sound alright? It could be important to proceed with defending my argument.

In general a negative definition isn't a very strong one, since you haven't established that there is any such other action, whilst we know for sure that there is intellectual and physical action.
However, you've not really made any kind of argument, you've just stated your case - that the soul and mind can be explained physically.

 

[LibraryOwl]

Well. I think we can work together to get somewhere. How would you define the spiritual element of man?