What did Descartes believe regarding neuroscience on human nature?
Descartes did not believe that the body was occupied by numerous souls or nonmaterial forces that took control over the functions of the body as it was believed during his time. He believed that the functions of the body were understood best as a machine physically. He also believed that the animal functioning did not surpass these mechanisms. For him, he was figuring out how such biological means could lead to human reason. Therefore, by retaining one soul, which is the rational mind, he solved the problem. He, therefore, presumed that humans were termed to be not similar to animals in having a coherent soul that was irrelevant and associated with the body physically via the pineal gland. Therefore it is considerate to speculate that Descartes would possibly have seen prudence as exemplified in the brain function if he had modern neuroscience knowledge. He then would have been able to see the link between the brain/mind, the neural incarnation of religious experiences and rational decision-making, and lastly, the overlay of some cognitive capacity between other primates and humans.
What makes us the image of God?
The great theologian, Jonathan Edwards, emphasized the interpretation of what makes us God’s image. He highlighted that the ability for moral agency and rational behavior was an important feature of what is meant to be created from God’s image. If the claim by Edwards that this capability was exclusive to humans, then there is a need to ask how that kind of assertion stands presently in the view of developments in the psychology of evolution. As some evolutionary psychologists portray, the altruistic-looking behavior emergence is explained by the nearly self-interested and mechanical processes of kin selection in which organisms assist close relatives to aid their genes to survive.
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What does emergence explain regarding interactions between elements?
The emergence concept is about the possibility that multifaceted entities such as organisms lack properties that do not occur within the elements that create complex entities. This dynamic system theory tries to expound how new fundamental characteristics can appear in complex systems that are characterized by huge nonlinear interactions levels within their elements. Numerous interconnections and millions of neurons are preferably well-matched for dynamic systems.
Quotations
“ The more we know, the harder it is to draw line between human and non-human or pre-human” (Jeeves & Brown, 2009 pg. 118).
This quotation is majorly founded on the human uniqueness discussion. In this quotation, it is argued that social intelligence arises from the integrative use of more base-level cognitive capabilities. Every capacity has a long phylogenetic development history, and in a gradual process, humanness appeared. The quote is demonstrated in the recent paleoanthropology evidence in that cultural and behavioral humanness indicators show that they occurred thousands of years before human presence.
“ The Lord God formed human being of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the human being become a living soul” (Jeeves & Brown, 2009 pg. 126)
The quote is about the new consensus on IMAGO DEI. It is a quote regarding the relational perspective for existence and the relationship of unique from of association between humankind and God. The consensus theologically is that the “imago Dei” cannot be founded only on human anatomy, behavior, neurology, and genes. However, God’s image, in human beings, appears from the interaction of relational, functional, and structural elements.
“ Understand that the universe was formed by Gods command so that the visible came forth from the invisible” (Jeeves & Brown, 2009 pg. 127)
From this quotation, it is argued that through faith and commitment, the formation of the universe was done through God’s command, as stated in Hebrews 11: 1, 3. Anthropologists may create models of the lineage of humanity that are rationally satisfying and self-contained. The believer challenge in a scientific age is to identify the divine upholding of God of the whole visible process.
Reflection
The paper is about the interaction between science, religion, and human nature. It offers insights on the new scientific research implication for a theological understanding of human nature. The questions which came into mind were, “What did Descartes believe regarding neuroscience on human nature?”, “What makes us the image of God?” and “What does emergence explain regarding interactions between elements?” The comments that came into mind in the course of the material reading include; the cultural and behavioral humanness indicators show that they occurred many thousands of years before human presence, the Gods image, in human being appears from the interaction of relational, functional and structural elements and through faith and commitment, the formation of universe was done through God’s command. On faith integration and the content of the reading, my religion is Christianity, and my religious perspective is that God made human beings in His own image. This fact is evident in Genesis 2:7, which reads, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (King James Version). The concept of the image of God has created much controversy in the reading as different thinkers have offered various diverse answers, each centering on the particular quality that seems to create uniqueness on humans.
Reference
Jeeves, M., & Brown, W. S. (2009). Neuroscience, psychology, and religion: Illusions, delusions, and realities about human nature. Templeton Press.
