A recent article about Christopher Hitchens quotes him saying: “I don’t have a body, I am a body.” This is a proposition that all atheists would affirm, but how rational is it?

Alvin Plantigna argues for dualism – that the mind and body are separate entities. The argument goes along these lines:

I can imagine a possible scenario where my mind exists separate from my body. I can even imagine that it is possible that my mind continues to exist if my body is destroyed.

I cannot imagine the possibility of my body existing separately from itself; if my body is destroyed, it is gone and I cannot imagine the possibility of it continuing to exist.

Therefore, my mind cannot identical to my body because I can imagine something is possible for it that I cannot imagine is possible for my body.

You can see Alvin Plantigna discussing the argument below and for a formal presentation of it go here.