Does the mind use the brain or does the brain use the mind?

Answer 1

It's same, same, but different. Basically the brain is the thing in which the mind exists.

Another answer

This is perhaps the most interesting, and difficult, question in Answers.com!

Neuroscientists think that the mind is a result of the operations of the brain, but they are not sure which operations, or even which part of the brain. We don't even know whether only humans have minds, or only mammals. My guess is all mammals have minds because they have a special brain region called the neocortex. This is largest in humans, and maybe humans have "more" mind than other mammals.

Answer 2

Some say the mind is a program that runs in the brain. Think of computers; the brain is hardware, the mind is software. But it is better not to think of the mind-brain connection (or, as it is known in philosophical circles, the mind-body connection) in terms of computers. If the brain is a computer, who's using the computer? Hardware doesn't use software and software doesn't use itself. So who's running the program? John Searle's essay "Is The Brain a Digital Computer?" (available online) explains this problem and shows that the brain is not a digital computer.

David Oderberg's essay "Hylemorphic Dualism" (available online) provides a more adequate explanation of the mind-body connection. If one does "use" the other, it must be the mind that uses the brain because the mind can exist independently from the brain (since it is immaterial). The body is like an organic robot controlled by a source of rational consciousness. This source of consciousness would emanate from the robot's control room.

Unlike the robot (who would be controlled by a material human being), the source of the body's consciousness is an immaterial mind. So, while the robot's consciousness can interact with the material world without using the robot, an immaterial mind must act within a human body if it is to interact with the material world. In this way it might be said that the mind uses the body.

Answer 3

Yes. The brain is the physical organ, whereas the mind is a person's intellect and intelligence.