Framing the Mind-Body Problem in Contemporary Neuroscientific and Sunni Islamic Theological Discourse.
The New bioethics : a multidisciplinary journal of biotechnology and the body July 1, 2018 Faisal Qazi, Don Fette, Syed S Jafri et al.
The mind-body problem, famously posed by Descartes, remains unresolved in Western philosophy and science, which have not moved convincingly beyond dualism. This paper argues that reframing the problem through interdisciplinary inquiry that includes non-Western perspectives, specifically Sunni Islamic theology of the soul, may be fruitful. While Islamic theology also adopts a position commensurate with substance dualism, bringing it into dialogue with contemporary neuroscience and philosophy of mind could provide a new way forward. The paper provides an overview of how these three discourses approach the mind-body-soul problem, aiming to ignite further scholarly dialogue and investigation.