Page 60 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 13

say that humans are relational beings, and that advanced in Thomistic, Cartesian interactive,
is what it means to be human (made to relate to holistic, and emergent forms (Cortez, 2010).
God, to each other, and to the rest of creation). While dualism has fallen out of favor in the
But the ontological question of what a human post-Darwinian and current neuroscience era
is constituted of is different and gets little to no for many scientists and academics, most phi-
explicit attention in the theological flow of the losophical rejection of dualism has been aimed
Biblical imago Dei texts (even if a certain me- at its Cartesian varieties (Churchhouse, 2017,
taphysical view would be assumed). In effect, Cortez, 2010, Damasio, 1994). The common-
imago Dei studies (from within the wider fra- sense intuition that we are both mental and
mework of Genesis 1 and 2) are addressing the physical has been a large factor in support
questions ‘who’ and ‘why’ is humanity. Human dualism’s enduring appeal in traditional and
constitution is addressing the question of ‘what’ folk thought. Biblical and theoretical critiques
is humanity… (p. 283). of dualism have also claimed dualism assumes
The ontological question will be addressed be- a faulty view of the mental life. The stereotypic
low to position the metaphysical framework for view of dualism attacked by its critics shares the
introducing the relevance of embodied cogniti- following tenets: the mind and body are distinct
on studies to our thought about the imago Dei. types of substances that causally interact; the
Surveys of anthropological ontologies in theo- mind is the seat of consciousness, not the body;
logy usually describe three basic views on the conscious thought can occur without the body;
issue: trichotomism, dualism and monism personal identity (i.e., that which defines and
(Boyd & Eddy, 2002, Dorman, 2001, Erickson, makes a person the same person across time
2013, Feinberg, 2017). Trichotomism is noti- and space) does not depend on the body, and
on that humans consist of three substances or the conscious mind is a characteristic of the im-
other ontological categories: a physical body, a material soul.
psychological/mental soul, and an immaterial Against such a view, Yong (2007) emphasizes
spirit. On these models, animals and humans the holistic and embodied presentation of hu-
are often both thought to share soulish qualities manity in Genesis and views it at odds with
differing in some instances only by degree. Yet the fragmented view of the person he sees in
any third component, most often identified as dualism thus raising the common anti-dualist
the spirit, is frequently asserted to be a unique problem of embodiment. Other challenges
attribute of humanity among earthly creatures. for stereotypic dualism include the problem
Dualism sees spirit and soul as roughly syn- of interaction (how can a non-material/ non-
onymous, both referring to the immaterial part temporal/ non-spatial substance interact with a
of persons, and the body as the material part. material one extended in space-time), and the
Dualism has been the predominant theologi- „mind of the gaps“ problem (Lavazza & Robin-
cal view throughout most of Christian history son, 2016). This latter problem arises from the
(Erickson, 2013). Monism holds that that we growing success of neuroscience in explaining
exist as unitary physical beings. The soul/spirit various features and processes of cognition in
is a property or characteristic or function of the terms of biocognitive process. For instance, fin-
body not a separate substance or element. dings such at the localization of specific men-
These theological views often are approached tal faculties or features to specific brain areas
both philosophically, engaging perennial issu- make plausible a reduction of the former to the
es in philosophy of mind, and through exege- latter for are large swath of cognitive scientists
tical treatments that attempt to demonstrate (Churchland, 2013).
which view most aligns with Biblical theology The momentum of reductive naturalism in neu-
(Moreland, 2009, 2014; Moreland & Rae, 2000; roscience, psychology and other fields has been
Robinson, 1952). It should also be noted that reflected in the shift away from dualism in re-
the three-category classification of these theo- cent centuries among scholars of various fields.
logical ontologies conflates a number of distinct But despite its unfashionable current standing,
perspectives. For instance, dualism has been influential defenses of varieties of dualism con-

58