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Essay / The Relationship Between the Body and the Brain
Table of ContentsOverviewRestatement of the Author's ArgumentCritical AnalysisDefense of the Philosophical PositionReferencesMy impression of Dennett's location throughout the story is that he is there where we tell him. When the experiment began, he was supposed to be in Houston, then he was sent to Tulsa to retrieve the radioactive device and finally he returned to the laboratory in Houston. Throughout the duration of the experiment, I believe Dennett was where his body was, not where his original brain was, because he was still experiencing the scenarios he was in without feeling like he was be in the laboratory. Additionally, the only theory that I think can be linked to Dennett's experiment is the memory theory. In this theory, we are said to exist through time as long as we have memories of the past. During the experiment, Dennett clearly remembers his favorite music as well as other events from the past. In this case, even though his brain was outside his body, he is still himself if we refer to the theory of memory. Finally, Dennett's thought experiment directly addresses the problem of personal identity. At first, he understands who he is and why he makes decisions. Then, when his brain leaves his body and he develops two sides with different personalities, he no longer knows who to be. The final part of the essay is deciding which part of the brain he wants to be the responsible adult or the adventurous human. In the end, he decides to keep both sides of himself, but this decision took a lot of thought as he struggled with a personal identity problem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay General Overview Dennett State provides understanding of the philosophy behind the human brain and body. The philosophical theme to be analyzed is the relationship between an individual's body and brain. A person's body, although controlled by the brain, can exist without the existence of the brain. The experiment made at Dennett proves this result. Furthermore, an individual's common-sense opinions that personally identify a person are intimately linked to the brain. To explain this statement, a person's thoughts occur in the brain. Any interruption to the brain would result in disruption of thoughts. Through the analysis of the theory of memory and personal identity, it will be possible to understand the relationship between a person's body, brain and thoughts, as the author explains.Reaffirmation of the The author's argumentAccording to the author, an individual can be where the body is but not where the brain is. The whole experiment is proven by the case of Dennett, when his brain was removed. Dennett's fictional account as explained by the author involves a series of body and brain surgeries. This series aims to illustrate the theory of personal identity. Describing the whole scenario, Dennett's body had to be separated from the brain, due to the secret government mission he had to fulfill. During the separation of brain and body, his brain was replaced by an artificial brain, connected to his primitive brain via radio waves. According to the author's illustration, Dennett's body, although not directly connected to the brain, is associated with the brain through the artificial brain. It receives all action signals from the brain and also sends stimuli to the back of the brain. Through Dennett's hypothesis, he asserts that he is not where his body is, and this is the center of the author's argument. Human personality is preserved inthe brain even if the body is separated from the brain, and even when a different body connects to the brain again, the personality of the individual is retained. As the author argues, Dennett's personal identity remains and was not interrupted when his brain was connected to another body after a government mission. The theory applies to every individual as the human brain controls an individual's thoughts and personality, even if the body is altered, just as in Dennett's case. Critical Analysis According to the author's message and argument, it is true that personal identity is determined by the brain and not the body. There is therefore no relationship between the body and the brain. However, to counter this argument, the body's action is determined by the brain. While it is clear that an individual's personal identity is entirely determined by the brain, will the individual's behavior affect the body in any way? Biologically, the stimulus impulse from the body is transmitted to the brain, and simultaneously the response impulses are sent again to the body for an action to be taken by the same body (Perry et al. 125). Taking an example where the personality of the individual leads to being talkative and quick to act when it comes to taking action, there will be a possible measure in the case where the brain sends impulses to the body. Thanks to Dennett's experimental case, during an accident, his entire body stops working with the artificial brain. The process therefore led to moving the point of view from the location of his body at the time of the accident to the tank where the brain is located. All this means that there is a close relationship between body action and brain activity. The relationship between body and brain is also well represented when an individual feels that they have been given a new body, as in Dennett's case. According to memory theory, once a person is the same self and the same rational being, they maintain the same personal identity. However, this can be refuted by the fact that the self is formed from the body and the results of a person's self are reflected in the actions of the body. Any small change in an individual's personality will simultaneously result in a change in their personality or personal identity. Once there is a change in personal identity, there will be an absolute change in bodily actions. Since the brain is capable of realizing the individual's body, a person's identity can only be fully expressed in the original body, but not with a counterfeit or different body. According to Perry et al. (2015, 130), the individual's personal identity may extend as far as their consciousness, and thus the effect might only be visible in the original body but not in the counterfeit (Perry et al. 130 ). From a psychological point of view, the consciousness of an individual is in equation with memory and therefore personality also depends on knowledge. Most of the time, a person is defined as conscious when their body and brain are in the same place. The definition remains both literal and mental. The functions of the body are properly managed by the brain and hence there is an association between their functions and activities. Mentally, an individual's thoughts must be determined by the existence of the brain and body in the same place. From the reality of an individual's personality, various values and virtues accompany it, and they are all reflected in the activities of the body. For example, in a mean, evil, unhappy character, the actions and words would represent the same characters (Hood, 15). Therefore, someone is not only his body, his,." (2015).