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The mind is a subject about which very much theorizing, experimenting, and expostulating has occurred in philosophy (studied under the heading philosophy of mind), psychology, and religion (where, in theology, it is often considered alongside such related notions as soul and spirit). Some people think it is synonymous with the brain. For some theorists the mind is the software of a brain, and the mind-body problem can be understood as analogous to this software-hardware connection. Other people, such as the philosopher John Searle, say that the mind or consciousness is not an analogous to a program, but instead, is a property of a biological system, much as wetness is a property of water.
There is a popular problem in philosophy about what the mind is, which can be presented as follows. It is commonplace to wonder what the mind, or soul (if you will), is. One can identify individual thoughts, individual feelings, in one's mind. But what is this mind that has these thoughts and feelings? One can imagine all sorts of mental goings-on, but what is it to imagine the mind itself? It seems the only way we have of understanding, by introspection, what our minds are is by considering various particular thoughts, feelings, decisions, and other events in our minds (i.e., mental events).
So, someone might boldly maintain that we really do not have a mind, or a soul, per se--at least, we do not have any mind or soul that is distinct from our thoughts, perceptions, and other mental events. All there are is a series of thoughts and feelings that are associated with our bodies. There are no minds that are something over and above these thoughts and feelings. This would be the view of someone who held a bundle theory about the mind. The Scottish philosopher David Hume held a theory of mind like this. Buddhism holds a very similar view.
The view of common sense, it seems, is opposed to a bundle theory of the mind. We seem to have a mind, or soul, which is distinct from our thoughts and feelings--and that mind is just exactly what we call our selves. Hume seems to want to deny that there is such a thing as the self. To some people this seems absurd. To them, a substance theoryThe substance theory or substance attribute theory a theory in metaphysics and ontology about objecthood, is the view that an object is something over and above the properties that inhere in it. In plain terms (theories of the inherence relation aside), t of mind will seem more attractive. On this view, one holds that there is something--one may not know what, but something--which has the thoughts and feelings, and the thoughts and feelings are in our minds, in about the same way that properties inhereOne difficult and commonly-raised problem for the Platonic realism as well as the substance theory is the problem of specifying what the so-called inherence relation is between a substance and its properties. For example, what is the relation between the in a substance.
Philosophers have not infrequently bandied the phrase "mental substance," and indeed, it has been made central to the ontologiesThis article is about the philosophical meaning of ontology . For the term in computer science, see ontology (computer science). In philosophy, ontology is the most fundamental branch of metaphysics. It is the study of being or existence as well as the ba of several philosophers, including most notably Gottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz ( July 1, 1646 in Leipzig November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. Leibniz is credited with the term " function" ( 1694), which he use; according to Leibniz, the monadThe word monad comes from the Greek word (from the word , which means "one", "single", "unique") and has had many meanings in different contexts: Among the Pythagoreans (followers of Pythagoras) the monad was the first thing that came into existence., a "simple soul," is that in terms of which everything else in the universe was to be explained. The notion of mental substance is also basic to the dualismThe term dualism is the state of being dual, or having a twofold division. Dualism doctrine consists of two basic opposing elements. Generally it consists of any system which is founded on a double principle. The term dualism has several uses: Theological of René DescartesRene Descartes ( IPA: rne. dekt) ( March 31, 1596 February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius worked as a philosopher and mathematician. While most notable for his groundbreaking work in philosophy, he has achieved wide fame as the inventor of the Cartesi. David Hume was very famous for advocating a bundle theory of mind.