From mind problems to a matter problem...

There may described, on the one hand, physiological, biochemical and electrochemical states of the brain which can be observed or directly detected, and on the other hand, states of mind as thoughts, emotions, sensations and perceptions that, just as subjectively experienced, can't be observed or directly detect by examining anything in the body at all. Although, from the physiological evidence of the brain, it could be assumed that for every mental state there is a corresponding brain or bodily state that produces it.

But then you can ask how do brain states get to being mental states? So how can any brain process that may produce the smell of coffee be transformed or translated into the smell of coffee itself? And also while you may able to detect and identify the brain process that produces the coffee smell you can ask where in the body is this smell that one has of coffee, just as a mental state? Or where is the experience of the colour red, the pain in the foot, the feeling of optimism or despair and so on?

So for such reasons that neither mental states nor, indeed, anything the may be called the mind, self or experiencing subject that may possess these states, can be observed or directly detected anywhere in the body, the thought can be that there at least needs to be something invisible and immaterial that makes the states of mind possible, and so is not itself a bodily state.

There is, however, a quite simple argument against any idea that there is anything invisible and immaterial in addition to the body that accounts for any states of mind or conscious experience in general.

So the above idea is that there would need to be something that can’t be observed because it’s not made of matter, and would need to have a certain distinct general property or some such properties so that brain states are changed into mental states.

But then it can be pointed out that there are already such things that are unobservable, just as such, and so that they can only be described from their effects, which may be called forces that act at a distance or fundamental interactions (it has been fond that such forces can be described as resulting from an exchange of virtual particles but these virtual objects have never been observed or directly detected). And as generally described from their effects these forces each only has one identity. So it doesn’t make sense to say there are many forces of gravity or of electromagnetism (unless there is the idea that there are many universes each with different properties of the forces). Yet it would need to make sense to say there are many immaterial minds in each of many individual human beings or other creatures.

And then even if it is supposed that each immaterial mind could have a property that is unique to each individual, it can be pointed out that essential to there being many minds is that each individual at least has a unique perception of the external world from the point of view of a particular body, so how could this be explained by individually differing immaterial mental properties?

But then this problem of mind could be considered in the context, first of all, the experimental findings of matter on the very small scale of atoms, molecules and their subatomic components. And from this evidence the question can arise as whether there is a universal problem in explaining the existence of matter, and which cannot be sufficiently resolved by any means, or at least not by considering any of the small scale findings alone. This problem can be considered to originate from the results of experiments first carried out in 1909, and concerns the question of how matter can persist as atoms and molecules, and while consisting almost all of the space beween its subatomic components.

Then also, this question of how matter can remain in its naturally organised forms as the atoms and molecules of the elements and compounds of inanimate matter could also be asked of the whole material form and natural organisation of all the species of living organisms including human beings.

Although when considering whether there might be a universal causal explanation of how matter can remain in its natural material forms and organisation the conclusion could easily be that nothing could be described of any such universal cause from its effects upon matter.

Or alternatively, especially from certain kinds of experimental evidence found of matter - as well as the energy it radiates - on the the very small scale, reasons may be found to consider that an invisible cause could act so it would possess properties that are quite different from those of all the known forces, and including the fundamental interactions such as gravity and electromagnetism...