Trialism in philosophy was introduced by

John Cottingham John Cottingham (born 1943) is an English philosopher. The focus of his research has been early-modern philosophy (especially Descartes), the philosophy of religion and moral philosophy.Athanassoulis, Nafsika and Vice, Samantha eds. (2008) ''Th ...

as an alternative interpretation of the

mind–body dualism In the philosophy of mind, mind–body dualism denotes either the view that mental phenomena are non-physical, Hart, W. D. 1996. "Dualism." pp. 265–267 in ''A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind'', edited by S. Guttenplan. Oxford: Blackwell. ...

of Descartes. Trialism keeps the two substances of mind and body, but introduces a third substance, sensation, belonging to the union of mind and body. This allows animals, which do not think like humans, to be regarded as having sensations and not as being mere

automata An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and Mor ...

Background

Cottingham introduced trialism after citing that Descartes' account of sensation and imagination has opened his official

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...

under considerable pressure. He cited that an evaluation of the Cartesian writings on

human psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

there is a grouping of not two but three notions - mind, body, sensation, hence the term trialism. According to Cottingham, Descartes added the third category or notion "alongside thought and extension without proceeding to reify it as a separate substance". Thinkers such as Daniel Garber and

Tad Schmaltz Tad M. Schmaltz (born 1960) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to that, he was a professor of philosophy at Duke University, where he began his teaching career in 1989. He graduated magna cum laude with ...

supported this by citing a letter in the correspondence between Descartes and

Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia Elisabeth of the Palatinate (26 December 1618 – 11 February 1680), also known as Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate, or Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey, was the eldest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (who was b ...

, which indicated that he changed his mind from a dualistic view.

Christian trialism

Christian trialism is the doctrine that humans have three separate essences (body, soul, spirit), based on a literal interpretation of

1 Thessalonians The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle, and is addressed to the church in Thessalonica, in modern-day Greece. It is likely among ...

5:23 ''And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.'' This doctrine holds the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

to belong to the union of the body and the spirit, which makes it roughly compatible with philosophical trialism. However, the

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a com ...

Kenneth Copeland Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936) is an American televangelist associated with the charismatic movement. The organization he founded in 1967, Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), is based in Tarrant County, Texas. Copelan ...

was criticized by critics such as

Hank Hanegraff Hendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff (born 1950), also known as the "Bible Answer Man", is an American Christian author and radio talk-show host. Formerly an evangelical Protestant, he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church in 2017. He is an outspoken figure wi ...

for extending trialism to each Person in the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

, for a total of nine essences.

References

Sources

* Cottingham, J. ''Cartesian Trialism'', ''Mind'', 1985. * Njikeh, K.D. ''Derician Trialism: The Concept of Human Composition into the Mind, Submind and Body Substances/Components'', International Journal of Philosophy, 2019. Christian philosophy Dualism (philosophy of mind) Theory of mind {{philo-stub