University of California Irvine Week 5 Aspects of the Self Concept Discussion

As this week is focused on psychology, the point I want you to address is:

In popular parlance, we regularly conceptualize the mind as separate from the body. This is actually connected to histories of philosophical thought and is referred to, depending upon the person, as mind-body dualism or Cartesian dualism (from Rene Descartes). Important here is that this isn’t speaking about the brain as a physical thing but is connected to the mind (i.e. that seemingly immaterial aspect of our awareness and engagement with the world). Think about your personality, your self and the idea of whether you feel yourself as a physical being in that manner. To that end, I want you to reflect upon: the seemingly immaterial aspects of ourselves have profound consequences for the social sciences.

With this week’s readings in mind, consider the ways in which it is often difficult to convey “who we are” to others, even though the growth of psychological knowledge has built up a bevy of information on the physical structuring of our brain.

For you first post, due Thursday by 11:59pm (the end of the day):

• What aspects of the self, of psychology, do you think can never be fully explicated with studies of the physical structures of the brain? Why is that?

For your two response posts, due Sunday by 11:59pm (end of the day):

• Try and think through how there might be a physical basis to what they’re talking about. Attempt to engage (respectfully) to think through that difficult point where we navigate what our bodies and brains physically produce and whether the seemingly abstract components might be tied into those.