Descartes’ mind-body dualism is deeply entrenched in Western civilization. The idea is so ingrained that few people discuss it. Instead, they implicitly assume that the ideology governs all. This way of seeing the world gives us the power to reason and view the mind as being wholly separate from the corporeal body.
Cartesian dualism also gives us a way to discuss the placebo effect. We identify that there is the body, a physiological system, which drugs and other medical treatments influence. We also recognize that there is the mind, which by suggestion can affect our expectations, hopes and therefore our responses to treatment. There is little evidence about how placebos create such clinical reactions but even without a conscious effort, people reach a logical conclusion about placebos.
This code of belief makes the placebo effect seem as a let-down. The prescriptions and surgeries are viewed as definite results while placebo effects are simply psychological. I think there is disappointment that the mind can’t control itself to produce the effects but instead we must physically manage the mind with sugar pills. Anthony Campbell, a trained physician, makes a clear point when he says, “The ghost has not yet been fully exorcised from the machine; a shadowy vestige of it, at least, still haunts the clinics and laboratories in which clinical trials are conducted.” (For more see: http://www.acampbell.ukfsn.org/essays/altmed/placebo.html)
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Lindsay, I appreciated your insightful essay on the placebo effect. I entered CSCL 3331 without a strong conviction of that phenomenon's validity. In blind medical studies. I assumed the placebo effect was due to the experimental drug's ineffectiveness, and that the placebo yielded no positive outcome. But Newsweek's article on anti-depressants and Robin's wart stories have pushed me to believing that the mind perhaps can mediate healing of the body. I may be wrong, but that belief argues against a Cartesian mind-body duality. That is, the mind and body function as an integrated unit.
ReplyDeleteI think you have reason when you say that the belief argues against Cartesian duality. (I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the full complexity of the philosophy.) I would simply argue though that Cartesian thinking model of a mind and a body has permitted a better approach the subject of placebos. It may be a contradiction but one that comes about because of the way we view the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm still wrapping my mind around Descartes's philosophy. He does state in Meditations that the body and mind are closely conjoined "as if it were a unity." Perhaps Robin or Ben can enlighten me.
ReplyDeleteI've always believed that the power of our minds over our bodies is highly underestimated. Studies using placebo effects have proven that our own suggestibility can be even more effective than an actual drug in certain situations. However, in some conditions where drugs are still required for treatment, one's attitude can heighten the overall effectiveness of the chemical, thereby creating a better outcome. Because of my opinion, I have to think the body and the mind are somewhat in tune with one another and aren't completely distinct.
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