Gilbert Ryle Dualism Summary

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Gilbert Ryle attempts to claim that the problem of other minds is the result of a deeper problem for a dualist, he does this by arguing that the dualist commits a category mistake. Category mistakes as Ryle defines them, are rooted in individual ignorance, yet continuing to assert knowledge unknown by that individual. He states, “that mistakes are made by people who did not know how to wield the concepts. Their puzzles arose from inability to use certain items in the English vocabulary.” Ryle gives an example of a person touring a university and having seen all the separate buildings, still inquires to see the University. The person has already seen everything encompassed within the university, but their conception of what a university is does not correlate with the experience of their tour. The person believes the University to be as a separate building similar to that of the library, gym, or cafeteria. This person idea of what a university is contradicts the actual reality of the university, because this individual had never been to a university, therefore was ignorant to reality of what a university is. Ryle then uses this idea of the category mistake to reveal what category mistakes dualist make when distinguishing the differences of…show more content…
He then gives the example that ‘She came home in a flood of tears and a sedan chair. But to phrase the conduction as, ‘She came home either in a flood of tears or else in a sedan chair,’ is absurd because it falsely classifies her state creating confusion as to the intended imagery. Ryle points this out because the Dogma of the Ghost in the Machine does this incorrect term association. Ryle explains such absurdity occurs by assuming that ‘there occur mental processes’ can be correlated with “there occur physical processes,’ showing that it makes no sense to conjoin the

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