Medical history is going to be attempted in 2017 with the world’s first head transplant. Does anyone see any implications this might have for substance dualism?
September 14, 2015
Head transplants and substance dualism
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Dualism[9] Comments
Thinking to Believe 
September 14, 2015 at 8:54 am
Whoa. I see what conclusions could be drawn. If heads can be transplanted then it seens to make a stronger case for a reductionist view of mind. What are your thoughts, Jason?
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September 14, 2015 at 10:38 am
This is above my pay grade.
This may be headlined as a head transplant; on the other hand, it could also be called a body transplant.
If the head rejects the body, can we say that the body can reject the head? If the genetic condition that causes the disease, Wertnig-Hoffman, is in the body’s genetic system then must it not also be in every cell? is the genetic deficiency not in the brain cells too and if the signals emanate to a new body from the brain to the nervous system to the body, would the signals not also come from the genetically deficient head (brain) through the nervous system?
It’s a Frankensteinian undertaking………..
I cannot even imagine going into a philosophical debate before it is known if this procedure will have a survivor to study.
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September 14, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Substance dualism, at least as understood by its original proponent, Descartes, amounts to “I think, therefore I am.” If Descartes were alive, I would think he would call the transplanting of a live body to a live head a body transplant. I believe he would be firm, and I would agree, that the surviving soul would be the one who came with the head. Only one survivor.
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September 14, 2015 at 5:58 pm
Long live the pineal gland! Since the mental substance is unextended, it has no location and so it remains untroubled by the head transplant.
How it “knows” where it’s pineal gland is in the first place, relative to its non-location, is the real problem – also unaffected by the results of a head transplant.
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September 17, 2015 at 12:24 am
Randy and Keithnoback,
I think you are both spot-on. In this case we are only dealing with one soul: the one that comes with the head. The transplant body will have died long before the actual transplant, and thus the soul that once “occupied” it will be long gone.
But what if this was reversed? What if we were transplanting a dead head onto a living body? Say I like my body because it is so muscular (I wish), but hate my head because it’s so ugly (maybe true), so I sign up for an operation to get a new head. In this case the head will come from someone who had died long ago, while my body will be medically killed by being put on ice (and my ugly head removed after I’ve been frozen). Once again, I think we can agree that the soul belonging to the dead head is long gone. If the surgery is successful, it will be my soul that would “permeate” the entire body including the head. But is that possible? Or is the soul connected to the brain, such that if the brain is not present, neither is the soul?
Let’s change it up a bit. Once again I want a better looking head, but in this case Brad Pitt agrees to be my new head (because he wants my amazingly buff body). Both of us are frozen at the same time. Both of us have our heads severed at the same time. When his head is put on my body, whose soul is present?
Jason
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September 17, 2015 at 4:26 pm
In this case we are only dealing with one soul: the one that comes with the head. The transplant body will have died long before the actual transplant, and thus the soul that once “occupied” it will be long gone.
How in the wprld cAn you say thaT? It’s a ridiculous statement.
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September 19, 2015 at 7:45 pm
Jason,
I believe that if you and Brad Pitt exchanged bodies, then Brad’s soul would inhabit your body and you would inhabit Brad’s body. My strong guess is that the souls would follow the heads.
However, your body makes decisions that come from other than the head. For instance, combat veterans sometimes have reflex reactions, such as ducking, when they hear loud noises. Those reactions come from the base of the skull, the top of the backbone. They truly are reflex reactions that occur without conscious thought. Therefore, if you got Brad’s body, you might find your body making decisions about which you have no understanding.
And, although most scientists might disagree, I believe there is very strong reason to believe that certain emotions (anger) can be lodged in the heart. I really mean that.
Randy
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September 19, 2015 at 8:50 pm
IMO, mind is to body what emotion is to soul, what will is to spirit.
Body, Soul and Spirit,
Mind, Emotion and Will
It is all housed within the brain. I do believe that memory may also be conserved in the cells throughout the body for posterior and genetic evolutionary purposes or otherwise.
Anecdotal evidence seems to point to memories suddenly appearing in people who have had organ transplants of which some people have been able to describe their killers or the accidents that caused their demise.
The body
Memory transference in organ transplant recipients
Sandeep Joshi
Editor’s note:
There is a physical side and an occult side to everything. This article discusses both sides of the coin with regard to organ transplant and its effect upon the recipient’s personality.
There have been perplexing reports of organ transplant receivers claiming that they seem to have inherited the memory, experiences and emotions of their deceased donors, and which are causing quirky changes in their personality. We will present a few cases and then discuss a possible explanation in the light of the occult insights of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Mirra Alfassa.
Cases of personality changes due to organ transplants
Before we discuss the cases, it is pertinent to note that apart from miscellaneous information such as gender, age and cause of death, profiles of organ donors are traditionally concealed from their recipients for psychological reasons. The cases listed here came to light after mysterious behavioural symptoms of recipients compelled a breach in the traditional donor-recipient anonymity.
Dr Pearsall has collected the accounts of seventy-three heart transplant patients, and sixty-seven other organ transplant recipients and published them. These reports have been published in (2, 3, 4). We discuss a few cases here.
Source:
http://www.namahjournal.com/doc/Actual/Memory-transference-in-organ-transplant-recipients-vol-19-iss-1.html
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September 21, 2015 at 8:22 pm
Randy, in the Brad Pitt scenario, we are not switching bodies. We are both medically killed at the same time, and his head is put on my body. Whose soul is present? If you say Brad’s, then it seems you are saying the soul goes with the brain. But why think this?
Also, what about the scenario I described prior to the Brad Pitt scenario?
Jason
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