The elusive relationship between the mental domain and the physical brain, known as the mind-body problem, is still a hot topic of discussion among philosophers and neuroscientists. Rather than solving this problem, our pilot study addresses the question as to whether personality features could influence intuitions of the mind-body problem, or more precisely, whether it is possible to identify a person's intuitive inclinations toward dualism or materialism and their inclinations toward reduction of the mind to the brain. For the purposes of this pilot study, we developed a questionnaire, which employed several theories of analytic philosophy of the mind, in order to determine which category the participants would belong to. These main categories were dualism, non-reductive materialism and reductive materialism. To test whether personality features affect preferences for these categories, the participants were investigated by Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). We found significant differences in the self-transcendence dimension of the TCI between participants who were evaluated as dualists and those who were assessed as reductive materialists. Our data show that the personality dimension of self-transcendence correlates with intuitive inclination toward reductive materialism or dualism. In addition, our results suggest that ideas, theories, and hypothetical solutions of the mind-body problem and possibly even conclusions, acceptance, and disputations of thought experiments of philosophy of the mind can be biased by personality traits. This fact should be taken into account in future discussions of the philosophy of the mind and may also be important for empirical research and an empirical understanding of the mind.

3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czechia

National Institute of Mental Health Klecany Czechia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Armstrong D. M. (1968).

Balestri M., Calati R., Serretti A., De Ronchi D. (2014). Genetic modulation of personality traits: a systematic review of the literature. PubMed DOI

Barušs I. (1990).

Barušs I. (2008). Beliefs about consciousness and reality clarification of the confusion concerning consciousness.

Chalmers D. J. (1996).

Cloninger C. R. (1986). A unified biosocial theory of personality and its role in the development of anxiety states. PubMed

Cloninger C. R. (2009). Evolution of human brain functions: the functional structure of human consciousness. PubMed DOI

Cloninger C. R., Bayon C., Svrakic D. M. (1998). Measurement of temperament and character in mood disorders: a model of fundamental states as personality types. PubMed DOI

Cloninger C. R., Przybeck T. R., Svrakic D. M. (1994).

Cloninger C. R., Svrakic D. M., Bayon C., Przybeck T. R. (1999). “Psychopathology as variants of personality,” in

Cloninger C. R., Svrakic D. M., Przybeck T. R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. PubMed DOI

Cloninger C. R., Przybeck T. R., Svrakic D. M. (1991). The tridimensional personality questionnaire: U.S. normative data. PubMed DOI

Coan R. W. (1979).

Costa P. T., McCrae R. (1992).

Davidson D. (2001). DOI

De Fruyt F., Van De Wiele L., Van Heeringen C. (2000). Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament and character and the five-factor model of personality. DOI

Dennett D. (1987).

Dennett D. (2003). Explaining the “magic” of consciousness. DOI

Descartes R. (1641). “Meditations on first philosophy,” in

Eley D., Laurence C., Cloninger C. R., Walters L. (2015). Who attracts whom to rural general practice? Variation in temperament and character profiles of GP registrars across different vocational training pathways. PubMed

Eysenck H. J., Eysenck S. B. G. (1975).

Eysenck H. J., Eysenck S. B. G. (1991).

Farmer R. F., Goldberg L. R. (2008). A psychometric evaluation of the revised temperament and character Inventory (TCI-R) and the TCI-140. PubMed DOI PMC

Feigl H. (1958).

Fodor J. (1974). Special sciences (or: the disunity of science as a working hypothesis). DOI

Fodor J. (1998). “Review of Steven Pinker’s how the mind works, and Henry Plotkin’s evolution in mind,” in

Gillespie N. A., Cloninger R., Heath C. A., Martin N. G. (2003). The genetic and environmental relationship between Cloninger’s dimension of temperament and character. PubMed DOI PMC

Gray H. M., Gray K., Wegner D. M. (2007). Dimensions of mind perception. PubMed DOI

Haslam N., Kashima Y., Loughnan S., Shi J., Suitner C. (2008). Subhuman, inhuman, and superhuman: contrasting humans with nonhumans in three cultures. DOI

Huebner B. (2010). Commonsense concepts of phenomenal consciousness: does anyone care about functional zombies? DOI

Jackson F. (1982). Epiphenomenal qualia. DOI

Josefsson K., Jokela M., Cloninger R., Hintsanen M., Salo J., Hintsa T. (2013). Maturity and change in personality: developmental trends of temperament and character in adulthood. PubMed DOI

Jung C. G. (1921/1971).

Knobe J. (2003). Intentional action in folk psychology: an experimental investigation. DOI

Knobe J. (2004). Intention, intentional action and moral considerations. DOI

Knobe J. (2007). Experimental philosophy and philosophical significance. DOI

Knobe J., Nichols S. (2008). An experimental philosophy manifesto.

Knobe J., Prinz J. (2008). Intuitions about consciousness: experimental studies. DOI

Koženı J., Tišanská L. (1998). Formální vlastnosti dotazníku TCI testované na datech adolescentů.

Leurquin-Sterk G., Van den Stock J., Crunelle C. L., de Laat B., Weerasekera A., Himmelreich U., et al. (2016). Positive association between limbic metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 availability and novelty-seeking temperament in humans: an 18F-FPEB PET Study. PubMed DOI

Levine J. (1983). Materialism and qualia: the explanatory gap. DOI

MacDonald D. A., LeClair L., Holland C. J., Alter A., Friedman H. L. (1995). A survey of measures of transpersonal constructs.

Machery E., Stich S., Rose D., Chatterjee A., Karasawa K., Struchiner N., et al. (2015). Gettier across cultures.

Nagel T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? DOI

Naude J. H. (2009). Technological Singularity and transcendental monism: co-producers of sustainable alternative futures.

Nichols S., Knobe J. (2007). Moral responsibility and determinism: the cognitive science of folk intuitions. DOI

Preiss M., Kuchařová J., Novák T., Štěpánková H. (2007). The temperament and character inventory – revised (TCI-R): a psychometric characteristic of the czech version. PubMed

Putnam H. (1960). “Minds and machines,” in

Putnam H., Castaneda H.-N. (1967). “The mental life of some machines,” in

Robbins P., Jack A. I. (2006). The phenomenal stance. DOI

Ryle G. (1949).

Saarinen A., Rosenström T., Hintsanen M., Hakulinen C., Pulkki-Råback L., Lehtimäki T., et al. (2018). Longitudinal associations of temperament and character with paranoid ideation: a population-based study. PubMed DOI

Searle J. (1980). Minds, brains, and programs. DOI

Searle J. R. (1984).

Smart J. J. (1959). Sensations and brain processes. DOI

Taylor A., MacDonald D. A. (1999). Religion and the five factor model of personality: an exploratory investigation using a Canadian university sample. DOI

Tobacyk J. (2003). Psychological type as a basic meaning framework for the history of psychology.

Wright R. (2001).

Yang S., Sung J., Kim J., Song Y., Lee K., et al. (2015). Some personality traits converge gradually by long-term Partnership through the lifecourse - genetic and environmental structure of cloninger’s temperament and character dimensions. PubMed DOI

Zuckerman M., Cloninger C. R. (1996). Relationships between Cloninger’s, Zuckerman’s, and Eysenck’s dimensions of personality. PubMed DOI PMC