Dualism Revisited: Body vs. Mind vs. Soul
Abstract
A large, diverse sample of adults was interviewed about their conception of the ontological and functional properties of the mind as compared to the soul. The existence of the mind was generally tied to the human lifecycle of conception, birth, growth and death, and was primarily associated with cognitive as opposed to spiritual functions. In contrast, the existence of the soul was less systematically tied to the lifecycle and frequently associated with spiritual as opposed to cognitive functions. Participants were also asked about three ethical issues: stem cell research, life support for patients in a persistent vegetative state and cloning. As expected, participants' beliefs about the ontology and function of the soul were linked to their judgments about these ethical issues whereas their beliefs about the mind were unrelated. Overall, the findings show that many adults do not espouse a simple body-mind dualism, and any tendency toward such dualism is unlikely to explain their beliefs in an afterlife. Instead, afterlife beliefs appear to be associated with the idea of an immaterial essence, potentially dissociable from the biology of life and death.
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Rebekah Richert and Paul Harris (2008) provide cross-cultural evidence suggesting the prevalence of a tripartite (body-mind-soul) model of the self, rather than simple mind-body dualism.
“Rebekah Richert and Paul Harris (2008), for instance, provide a variety of cross-cultural evidence suggesting the prevalence of a tripartite (body -mind -soul) model of the self, rather than simple mind -body dualism.”
From Body and Mind in Early China: An Integrated Humanities–Science Approach (2013) · cites this paper as Richert and Harris 2008
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- Authors
- Richert, R., & Harris, P.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Cognition and Culture
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2008
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 99-115
- ISSN
- 1567-7095 (ISSN-L)
- 1568-5373
- OpenAlex
- W1982858132
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 3.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Cognition and Culture (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Keywords
- mind-body dualism, soul, mind, afterlife beliefs, ontology of mind, spiritual beliefs, cognitive function, stem cell research, persistent vegetative state, cloning, moral judgment, life cycle
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