Dualism is popular with those who believe in life after death. This belief in the mind as a substance which exists independently of the brain, however implausible, seems to be required for most religious doctrines, as well as for many New Age notions and therapies. Metaphysical materialists , on the other hand, consider the mind to be either the brain itself or an emergent reality , i.e., an entity separate from but brought into being by the workings of the brain. The latter doctrine is known as epiphenomenalism . For the materialist 'mind' is a catch-all term for a number of processes or activities which can be reduced to cerebral, neurological and physiological processes.
Behaviorists consider 'mind' to be a catch-all term for a set of behaviors.
There is probably no more fascinating topic in philosophy or neurology than mind or consciousness . Yet, despite the fact that the human mind has made it possible to gain all the understanding of the world and ourselves which we now possess, it has done precious little to help us understand the mind itself. For example, memory is something we all have to some degree or another. Yet, we do not fully understand the nature of memory, and several models of memory are equally plausible. Models of mind or consciousness continue to occupy the brains of some of our best philosophers and scientists.