Volume 12, Issue 4, October 1995
Christian Philosophy and the Mind-Body Problem
Lynne Rudder Baker
Pages 489-504
Need a Christian Be a Mind/Body Dualist?
Although prominent Christian theologians and philosophers have assumed the truth of mind/body dualism, I want to raise the question of whether the Christian ought to be a mind/body dualist. First, I sketch a picture of mind, and of human persons, that is not a form of mind/body dualism. Then, I argue that the nondualistic picture is compatible with a major traditional Christian doctrine, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Finally, I suggest that if a Christian need not be a mind/body dualist, then she should not be a mind/body dualist.