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**ebookinfo** · 05-04-2008, 10:15 AM

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
I agree about your assessment of substance dualism. The problem with the modern world isn't that it says that both are separate, but that it denies the existance of a spiritual realm altogether. It's a form of materialism which has been prevalent.

Secondly, as for monism, there are certain problems. The scientific revolution, not Christianity was the impetus for substance dualism (it was Descartes) who really came up with the idea as a way to reconcile the deviations between what science observes and what religion observes.

If you rely on monism, then you have problems with how do you reconcile the fact that science has not detected any such thing as a 'spirit' or a 'soul'? Let me clarify: this isn't so much a philosophical argument as a cultural one. I'm trying to write not about the philosophical problems, but the individual and cultural effects of the way we see ourselves.

And it isn't really a criticism of Christianity, more of a criticism of a particular way of looking at the world. It is, IMO, incorrect to think that this is irreconcilably linked with Christianity.

As for monism - well, again, this is not really a theoretical argument, more a practical/cultural/individual one, relating to the consequences of different ways of defining what an individual "I" is.

05-04-2008, 10:15 AM	#2
ebookinfo Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 392 Senior Member	Originally posted by Ben Kenobi I agree about your assessment of substance dualism. The problem with the modern world isn't that it says that both are separate, but that it denies the existance of a spiritual realm altogether. It's a form of materialism which has been prevalent. Secondly, as for monism, there are certain problems. The scientific revolution, not Christianity was the impetus for substance dualism (it was Descartes) who really came up with the idea as a way to reconcile the deviations between what science observes and what religion observes. If you rely on monism, then you have problems with how do you reconcile the fact that science has not detected any such thing as a 'spirit' or a 'soul'? Let me clarify: this isn't so much a philosophical argument as a cultural one. I'm trying to write not about the philosophical problems, but the individual and cultural effects of the way we see ourselves. And it isn't really a criticism of Christianity, more of a criticism of a particular way of looking at the world. It is, IMO, incorrect to think that this is irreconcilably linked with Christianity. As for monism - well, again, this is not really a theoretical argument, more a practical/cultural/individual one, relating to the consequences of different ways of defining what an individual "I" is.
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