What is the Mind-Body problem?

This position presents the dualist answer to the mind-body problem: that a person is made of two distinct parts, a physical body and a non-physical mind. It draws on the knowledge argument about qualia, first-person authority over one's experience, and the existence of free will.

This position presents the idealist answer to the mind-body problem: that only the mind truly exists, and the physical world we perceive is a composition of mental experience. It draws on cases such as hemiplegic stroke victims to argue for the primacy of mind over matter.

This position presents the materialist answer to the mind-body problem: that humans are purely physical matter, mind included. It argues physical explanation is simplest (Occam's razor), that mental states arose through physical evolution, and that beliefs reduce to physical experience.

This position presents functionalism as an answer to the mind-body problem. It holds that mental states can be reduced to functional responses to stimuli—Putnam likened the mind and body to a computer—offering an alternative to the perceived weaknesses of materialism.