Free Essay: A Comparison of the Concepts of Dualism and Monism

Monism and dualism are the philosophies that attempt to explain the existence and connection of the brain and the mind. Monism refers to the philosophy that upholds the existence of the brain and mind as two parts of one component. According to the theory, there is no significant difference between the mind and the brain. Thus, monism believes that the brain and the mind are components that form a whole part. The philosophy uses an analogy of electrical signals to refer to the mind, which connects to the physical aspect of the brain. Just like the monism philosophy, the dualism philosophy believes in the existence of the brain and mind. However, the dualism philosophy holds on to the belief that a human being comprises of two parts, the body, and the mind or mind. Therefore, the dualism theory sees human beings as a part consisting of two different components, the body, the soul, and the mind.

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The primary difference between the two philosophies is the existence of the brain, mind, and soul. While the monism philosophy argues that the brain and mind must exist together, the dualism philosophy believes that the body, the soul, and the mind are three separate entities that can live freely and separately. Monism theory relies on the scientific explanation of the existence of the brain and mind as units of a single body. The scientific and medical examination of a patient in a coma whose brain is in somewhat a dead state and indicates no significant activities proves that the brain and the mind are two parts of a single unit. The ability of the patient to respond to necessary tests shows that the mind is active while the brain is in an inactive state. However, the dualism theory, to a large extent, relies on the ad ignorant fallacy when explaining the existence of the body, mind, and soul. There are solid scientifically proven facts on the existence of the mind and soul as separate entities as perceived in the dualism philosophy.

The philosophy of monism uses the existence of the world as a singular unit to explain the existence of things on the earth, including the brain and mind, which are ultimately reduced to a single entity. However, the dualism philosophy refutes this argument stating that everything exists as duplets and tend to be irreducible. Therefore, monism stipulates that the brain and the mind form the individual soul, which has got no significantly different from the utmost soul. At the same time, the dualism believes that the supreme soul, the brain, and the mind are separate.

The monism and dualism philosophies extend to the legal systems. When applied to the legal system, monism uses the same principle of unifying the supreme soul and the individual soul. The unification leads to the development of the argument that there should be no significant difference between national and international laws. On the contrary, the dualism philosophy ascribes to the fact that the individual soul has lesser power than the supreme soul and therefore calls for differences in terms of supremacy between the internal and international rules and regulations.

The unifying factor between the monism and the dualism theories is that both of the theories attempt to explain the existence of human beings and everything in the universe. However, monism theory appeals more as it relates to the state of the world and offers explanations that fit in the world order. The philosophy makes more sense as there is no available physical or empirical evidence indicating that the mind can exist on its own without the soul. There is no relevant scientific explanation of the existence of the body, mind, and soul as separate entities. Nonetheless, the dualism theory fails to explain the distinguishing factor explicitly for the individual and supreme soul.