The Human Question

Given that brains change structure when our opinions change, the question of how the two are related to each other naturally arises. We can pose that question in the same manner that Socrates once did to Euthyphro. Just as Socrates asked, is something good because the gods say it is, or do the gods say it is because it is good? And just as that question allowed for four answers (the first, the second, both, neither) so to does the following: Does the opinion change because of the change in brain structure, or does the structure change because of the change in opinion? Or are both alternatives partially true? Or are both entirely false? So the four alternatives are as follows: 1. opinion changes because of change in brain structure; 2. brain structure changes because of change in opinion; 3. both influence each other; 4. neither influences the other because the two are identical. It is easy to guess at how an epiphenomenalist would answer (1), as well as how a dualist would (2)....