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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front. Philos. China    2019, Vol. 14 Issue (4) : 612-629    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-008-019-0036-2
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Conceptual Fetters of the Mind-Body Problem
FEI Duoyi()
School of Humanities, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing 100088, China
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Abstract

The crux of our encounter with the mind-body problem originates from a predicament on the underlying ontological level—from the category of concepts, it seems that the form for grasping the subjective aspects of the mind is incommensurable with the one for understanding the objective level of the brain. This is reflected in the fact that empirical expression is restricted by language, that psychological events cannot be incorporated into strict laws, and that the subject has a path that, with his own mental state, others cannot share. In order to make progress in cracking the mind-body problem, this paper tries to abandon the assumption that “psychology” and “physics” are mutually exclusive and are incompatible ontological categories. The “mind” and “body” are considered as two interchangeable yet non-coexisting perspectives. Therefore, events in the body are represented as conceptions in the mind, and have an expressive correspondence with one another. Meanwhile, the approach for achieving such correspondence involves the entity itself—the ability of the organism to perform purposeful activities constitutes the source of its internal activities. Through the connection of life categories—or rather, the coupling of living beings and their worlds—the mind and body maintain mechanisms which can be jointly realized.

Keywords mind-body problem      conceptual fetters      perspective      continuum     
Issue Date: 06 January 2020
 Cite this article:   
FEI Duoyi. The Conceptual Fetters of the Mind-Body Problem[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(4): 612-629.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-008-019-0036-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2019/V14/I4/612
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