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Hey, I'm kind of new to philosophy (in terms of terminology and known philosophies out there), but I'm finding myself more and more attracted to it, so forgive me if i seem like I dont know what I'm talking about. I've read through the last 3 pages of your discussion, and it seems like you guys have aggreed upon some kind of dualism; in that there is the Mind (as a spiritual/soul-like essence) and there's the Brain (the physical orgain). Please correct me on everything i got wrong in there.
Personally, I can't buy into any form of dualism regarding the mind/body. I recently saw something on the Discovery channel that was discussing the evolution of mammals, and was saying that the body evolved to accomidate the brain. The show also was explaining how the evolution of the ear from 1 to 3 bones then required a larger cerebral cortex to comprehend the more complex information. Though this special was discussing a pre-historic rat, I think it holds validity for higher mammals too. Based on that theory that the cortex expanded with the evolution of the senses, would it not make sense that our sense of consiousness, and even self-awareness is a product of sensory input? If that's the case, which i believe it is, then that discredits the concept of the soul (if defined with a sense of self-awareness), and instead suggest that "the soul" is just a product of our self-awareness, which is a product of an enlarged cortex for sensory input.
So based on the comment above this about Phaedrus' dog, yes your dog can learn and re-act, but the dog's cerebral cortex differs from that of a human. It will have larger sections dedicated to smell and hearing. Ultimately I'm suggesting the degree in which the cerebral cortex determines self-awareness, not some kind of soul/spirit.
HAHAH in case I rambled, and what i just wrote made no sense, let me know. I'm on about 3 hrs of sleep and have no idea how coherent I am right now.
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