# Dualism vs. Materialism **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 2, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-materialism/18394 "2000-05-02T21:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-materialism/18394/21 "2000-05-04T01:10:02Z")
Sure, souls are unreasonable. that’s not a bad thing. reason isn’t the only thing in the universe, you know. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-materialism/18394/22 "2000-05-04T03:12:59Z")
pldennison wrote: > [@](#): > > In the movie Mask, Eric Stoltz’s character Rocky Dennis is able to demonstrate “color” not to a colorblind person, but to a blind person. Wow. That movie must have made quite an impression on you, Phil. BTW, the movie was based on a real person’s life, and the fellow who played Norm Kaplan, the director of the camp where Rocky Dennis demonstrated color, was, in fact, **Norm Kaplan**. Here comes the name-dropping part. He was a guest at my wedding. IIRC, he gave us a spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Nen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Nen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nen)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-materialism/18394/23 "2000-05-04T17:26:47Z")
**Gilligan** , I am stating that there are scientific explanations for introspection, quale, et cetera (at this time, further work in neurophysiology is required to fully document these phenomena. Dualists may claim that these sensations are a product of the soul; however, one must keep Ockham’s Razor in mind. The scientific explanation is the simpler of the two. It isn’t evidence against the soul, double causation is possible, but the postulation of a soul becomes superfluous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-materialism/18394.md?page=1)