Mind & Matter

Thinkers, both eastern and western, have long argued about which one is supreme---mind or matter. The proponents on either side of the debate have passionately argued their case with analytical and speculative arguments. Still the ‘matter’ is far from being resolved.

Sir Bernard Williams, late English philosopher, argues that “we identify more closely with our bodies than our minds”. To test our intuitions about the self, he says, let’s assume an imaginary scenario. We are at the mercy of a mad scientist who has planned to give us intense physical torture the next day. In a moment of generosity, the scientist gives us the option of wiping our memories and replaces it with those of Napoleon. If memory is the seat of self, then we would have nothing to fear for the next day’s torture. However, how many of us would really buy this argument? It is crystal clear to us that despite memory-replacement experiment, we would still suffer from the pain inflicted by the scientist.

Take another example. We have all seen the famous ‘transporter’ machines in Star Trek, which supposedly take a person apart atom by atom and create him/her anew in a different place. But if such a machine is possible then it means that our memories survive bodily disintegration, which amounts to death. Is it not a scientific validation of transmigration of soul?

Now, it’s another thing that many of us who oppose euthanasia (calling it a form of suicide) are in a way condoning it by approving of the Star Trek’s concept of ‘transportation’. A far-fetched logic, but cannot be overlooked.