John Searle and the Mind-Body Problem in the Context of His Biological Naturalism

Abstract: The mind-body problem is the problem of how to understand and construct the relation between mind and body. The solution for this problem requires giving satisfying definitions of the physical and the mental. Monist and dualist approaches that are dominant in philosophy of mind considers the physical and the mental as antonyms of each other. According to Searle, the solution for the mind-body problem is possible via rejecting the idea that the mental and the physical, and their related properties, are opposite of each other, and via refuting conceptual dualism. An alternative theory Searle provides is “biological naturalism.” The name of the approach contains the term “biological” because it emphasizes on the consciousness as a biological entity and contains the term “naturalism” because consciousness is a part of the natural world just like other biological phenomena. In this paper, biological naturalism, as a solution proposal for the mind-body problem, will be discussed through several criticism and Searle’s replies against those criticism