The Resurrection of the Body: the Mind/Body Problem

In our last examination, we were left with the mind/body problem. Briefly, this problem stems from a conception of experience or subjectivity that seems to necessitate an answer to what is termed "the hard problem"; can the "physical" body, i.e., the brain, give rise to subjective experience--something so radically different than itself. Or, how can a physical body produce non-physical experience? How can subjective experience, i.e., first personal experience arise from something so very different? Let's take a look at this problem from another perspective.

The mind/body problem arises as a result of several presuppositions going unexamined. First, we have been historically conditioned to use the word "body" in a physical (i.e., biological or medical) sense. The body conceived to be this thing that houses a mind, including the self. We shall refer to this body as the "medical body." Allow me to illustrate. When are get sick, perhaps a flu, we think up a body that has been inhabited by a virus that causes very uncomfortable symptoms. From a medical or biological perspective, this conception is true. I don't think many would argue. However, the felt experience of the body displays something radically different. The "feeling body" is the experience of symptoms. The medical body is the body we conceive. It is a purely conceptual body. No one has ever perceived their whole body. We can see limbs but not our backs. We can see but we cannot perceive our eyes, except in the form of a reflection in a mirror or something that reflects light. But we do feel various symptoms such as hot with a fever, aching muscles, sore throat, etc. Basically, I am referring to the body as it is lived, not as it is thought. Our living body, and that is what I'll be calling it, is our experience body. The entirety of all experience takes place in our living bodies, not in our theoretical, biological, or medical bodies. The latter are purely conceptual. Now this is not to degrade the medical body in any way shape or form. But it is to say that any conceptual body will always be a product of thought. 

In the mind/body problem, we are conceiving of a medical body that somehow gives rise to first personal experience. However, if we suspend the concept of a medical or physical body we can adopt a more life-like body, the experience body. If we conceive of our bodies as the locus of all experience, even thought, the mind body problem dissolves. 

The same is true of the mind or consciousness. If we conceive of consciousness as something produced by the medical body, then we are stuck with the mind/body problem again. But, if we take note of how we actually live the body, then we might be brought to the point of realizing that we don't live with a mind or consciousness separate from the living or feeling body. We can certainly distinguish what we call "mental activity" from feelings, but we cannot separate feelings from any sort of mental activity, surprisingly even from thought. I don't think it much of an exaggeration to say that most of us are not aware of the feeling impact of thoughts as they are occurring. Frequently, it takes some sort of meditation or sensitivity practice to realize the intimate connection of thoughts and feelings. Yes, even thought takes place in feelings. 

So, what are we now left with? Well, our conception of the body is one of a lived body, not a theoretical one. Consequently, we are brought to realize that no living separation is possible; the separation is only an analytic process. We live body/mind we think body and mind. We do not live in a singular body inhabited by a mind, and consequently a self. This conception of "self" must dissolve along with the mind/body problem. More on that later.