Dualism Persists in the Science of Mind
Athena Demertzi, Charlene Liew, Didier Ledoux, Marie‐Aurélie Bruno, Michael Sharpe, Steven Laureys, Adam Zeman
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences March 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2008.04117.x via OpenAlex
Summary
Attitudes about whether mind and brain are separate or the same thing vary by age, gender, and religious belief. Two surveys—one of university students in Edinburgh (250 people) and another of health-care workers and the public in Liège (1,858 people)—found that dualistic views (seeing mind and brain as distinct) were common. In the Liège survey, younger participants, women, and those with religious beliefs were more likely to endorse separation of mind and brain, survival of a spiritual part after death, and the existence of a soul distinct from the body. Religious belief was the strongest predictor of dualism. Over a third of medical and paramedical professionals also regarded mind and brain as separate, even though most health-care workers rejected that distinction.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2,108 |
| Population | University of Edinburgh students and University of Liège health-care workers and lay public |
| Keywords | Dualism Soul Mind–body problem Social psychology Soma |
| Citations | 125 |
| Key finding | Religious belief was the best predictor of dualistic attitudes about mind and brain; younger participants, women, and religious individuals were more likely to view mind and brain as separate. |
Abstract
The relationship between mind and brain has philosophical, scientific, and practical implications. Two separate but related surveys from the University of Edinburgh (University students, n= 250) and the University of Liège (health-care workers, lay public, n= 1858) were performed to probe attitudes toward the mind-brain relationship and the variables that account for differences in views. Four statements were included, each relating to an aspect of the mind-brain relationship. The Edinburgh survey revealed a predominance of dualistic attitudes emphasizing the separateness of mind and brain. In the Liège survey, younger participants, women, and those with religious beliefs were more likely to agree that the mind and brain are separate, that some spiritual part of us survives death, that each of us has a soul that is separate from the body, and to deny the physicality of mind. Religious belief was found to be the best predictor for dualistic attitudes. Although the majority of health-care workers denied the distinction between consciousness and the soma, more than one-third of medical and paramedical professionals regarded mind and brain as separate entities. The findings of the study are in line with previous studies in developmental psychology and with surveys of scientists' attitudes toward the relationship between mind and brain. We suggest that the results are relevant to clinical practice, to the formulation of scientific questions about the nature of consciousness, and to the reception of scientific theories of consciousness by the general public.