Are we living in a machine? Mechanism is the view that the fundamental substance of the world exists independently of anything else. It is physical and independent of minds or other psychological properties. It is analyzed according to physical properties, causes and a like. If one is a mechanist one can either be a dualist or a materialist. Either there are entities that operate over and above the material or matter is all there is. Given the weaknesses of both positions, Madden concludes that the issue in question is whether or not mechanism should be assumed. Madden says there is a better alternative and, when applied to the philosophy of…
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Evolution and the Soul
Historically, Christians have held to various forms of dualism, the idea that the human person is both material and immaterial This, it is said, is what makes it possible to exist beyond the grave even though one’s earthly body remains in it. To the materialist such an idea is archaic and unnecessary. Evolution explains our origins without human souls and if the cost is not living on after we die then so be it. Of course there are many who are both Christian and committed to an evolutionary explanation of human origins. If one is committed to evolution and to the idea of life after death one must explain a possible way that the soul emerges through…