Varieties of dualism in which mind can causally affect matter have come under strenuous attack from different quarters, especially starting in the 20th century. How can something totally immaterial affect something totally material? That's the basic problem of causal interaction. This problem can be broken down into three parts.
First, it is not clear where the interaction would take place. For example, burning one's fingers causes pain. Apparently there is some chain of events, leading from the burning of skin, to the stimulation of nerve endings, to something happening in the peripheral nerves of one's body that lead to one's brain, to something happening in a particular part of one's brain, and finally resulting in the sensation of pain. But pain is not supposed to be spatially localizable. It might be responded that the pain "takes place in the brain." But, intuitively, pains are not located anywhere. A dualist might stick to his guns and insist that pains are not located......

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Title: Monism
Approximate Word Count: 593
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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