Is a person mind or body?
Mind-body dualism is an old argument in philosophy. It is a question of what makes up a man.
Dualism finds its way into philosophy as a strong issue when Rene Descates introduced it in the modern era. He was of the opinion that man is both material and mind.
The matter occupy space, extend, moves and every of its parts can be seen.
Mind on the other hand does not occupy space, does not extend, doesn't move and none of its part can be seen.
To explain his argument, Descartes doubt the existence of everything. He doubted that he exist, that he went to school, has parent, etc. In this process of doubting, he could not deny one thing which is the fact that he was thinking.
So he said to think, it must mean he exist and alive. This made him come up with is dictum cogito ergo sum, which means i think, therefore i am.
He argues further that man is both mind and body. The mind is for consciousness. For him, it is man's thinking faculty.
In Christendom, man is considered to be made up body, soul and spirit
The body is the material self that is physical which dies and decays after death. The spirit is the communicating link between man and God. The soul is the indestructible part of man. Once the body dies, it leaves it and go to either hell or heaven after judgement.
A layman believes in the idea that man is both soul and body. It is evident in their speech whenever they say 'why should i fear one who can kill body and not soul. The layman also believes in the religious claim which explains why they hold on to the idea that if they do good, they will gain heaven as their reward.
From the explanation above, it is clear that there are beliefs about the dualistic or tripartite nature of man. Whether they are true or not is a question we need to answer.
As an individual and a philosopher , i never believed in the idea that man is made up of any component apart from his material body.
My argument is against the idea of consciousness ascribed to mind. If mind is the consciousness of man, what happens when he (man) is unconscious? Does it mean the mind has left or dead?
Consciousness for me, means being aware of things around you, your environment and circumstances. If one walks on the street, then the person is still alive but when such person has no awareness of things around, what can we say about such person? Does the mind still present in such body?
Also, as Descartes had wrongly argued, mind cannot be that which thinks. I believe that is the work of the brain. A brain is use for thinking and not consciousness.
If thinking is the work of consciousness which is a mere word, what then is the work of the brain? Perhaps, you are also thinking in this direction that brain is responsible for thoughts.
As a person (away from philosophy), i believe man is made up of the three components mentioned in Christendom - body, spirit and soul.
A man's body dies but his soul never dies. It returns back to the creator to answer for what the body did while on earth and as a living.
It is possible that you don't share my sentiment about the components of man but i would love to hear what you think a man is made up of.
Thanks for your time!