Monism Vs Dualism

In simple terms, monism is the belief that ultimately the mind and the

brain are the same thing, whereas dualists believe that the mind and

the brain are separate. Both approaches have theoretical and

philosophical implications. For example, if the brain is all there is

to us, then were does that leave religion and the concept of a soul

etc.

The argument is not just between the two extremes, as there are many

different stances that philosophers and psychologists adopt. For

example, Interactionists believe that although the mind and body are

separate, the body affects the mind just as the mind affects the body.

Psycho-parallelists believe that the workings of the mind simply

reflect the workings of the body, and vice-versa - mental and physical

events are just correlated, there is no causal power in either part.

Idealism can be classed as monism in the sense that it says that the

mental and the physical are not separate, but it is almost the reverse

of the typical monist approach in that it believes the physical is a

function of the mental. This concept almost seems a denial of physics,

but they claim for physical objects and events etc. to occur, they need

to exist in someones mind; they need to be perceived. (The tree in the

forest