Dualism

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 7: Summary – What happens after you die?

by

Dualism often grows from our desire for continuity, for the hope that something of us persists beyond the body. Philosophy asks us to sit gently with that desire without rushing to resolve it. Whether consciousness continues or not, the question itself can sharpen how we live now. Meaning may not depend on what comes after death, but on how fully, thoughtfully, and authentically we inhabit the life we have.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 6: Will Your AI chatbot go to heaven?

by

If consciousness is not strictly tied to a human body, then it may not be exclusive to humans at all. Metaphysical dualism invites us to consider whether awareness could emerge wherever the right conditions exist, whether in animals, artificial systems, or forms of intelligence we haven’t yet imagined. Philosophy challenges us to expand our moral and imaginative horizons, asking what responsibility follows when we recognize minds beyond our own.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 5: Have you ever lost your mind?

by

Dualism promises a clear separation between mind and body, yet lived experience complicates that picture. In moments of panic, grief, or overwhelming emotion, the mind can feel anything but sovereign. Philosophy invites us to sit with this tension, asking whether identity is truly housed in conscious control or whether it emerges from something deeper, less fragile, and more mysterious than we assume.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 4: Are you out of your mind?

by

Experiences of transcendence challenge the boundaries we draw between mind and body. Whether the “bright light” is a glimpse of something beyond the physical or a creation of consciousness itself, dualism invites us to take such moments seriously without rushing to explain them away. Philosophy lives in that threshold, where mystery remains meaningful even without certainty.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 3: Would you donate your brain?

by

Descartes’ dualism pushes us to imagine the unthinkable: if the mind and body are separate, what truly makes us who we are? Would consciousness survive a change of hardware, or is it inseparable from the brain itself? By asking absurd-sounding questions, philosophy helps us probe the deepest mystery of all: whether identity lives in matter, mind, or somewhere in between.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 2: Where do you keep your secrets?

by

Dualism asks one of philosophy’s most haunting questions: if the mind is more than the body, where does it live? As science maps the brain with increasing precision, the mystery of consciousness remains stubbornly elusive. Philosophy invites us to sit with that tension, wondering whether our essence can be located at all, or whether it exists beyond any physical address.

Read the letter →

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 05 – Metaphysics 2 (Metaphysical Dualism) – Part 1: Introduction: Do you have ghosts?

by

Metaphysical dualism asks whether there is more to us than matter alone. Is consciousness simply the brain at work, or is there an observer within us that can’t be reduced to physical parts? Philosophy invites us to sit with that question, noticing the quiet sense of “self” that watches thoughts come and go. Whether ghost or mind, something seems to be looking out from behind our eyes.

Read the letter →