Cartesian Dualism Of Descartes 'Meditations'

Cartesian Dualism

Cartesian or Substance dualism was most famously promoted by Descartes in his Meditations. The premise of this theory is that the soul is the very essence of a person. They are soul and nothing more.

Before explaining the view some terms should be clarified. Here essence will refer to personal identity. For example, when a person refers to them self as “I” or “Me” they are referring to their essence. Form will allude to the nature of an abstract thing from which particular entities derive their identity (e.g. A triangle is a triangle in virtue of its participation in the form of triangle.). Soul will refer to consciousness and or a person’s mind. Body will refer to what humans perceive to be their physical anatomical structure.

Material things are composed of matter and are geospatial. This means that a material thing can be pinpointed to an exact location in space. Whereas Immaterial things are not composed of matter and are not geospatial.

For Descartes, the body is considered to be material and the soul immaterial. Due to the body’s material composition, it will eventually reach a point where it’s no longer fit to harbor life. At this point all that will remain is the immaterial soul. Descartes asserts that the soul being immaterial, will subsist without the body. Moreover, the soul will not be at a loss when the body dies. If anything the body infringes upon the soul’s ability to function by troubling it with needs (e.g. nourishment, sleep, etc.). Thus in the Cartesian afterlife, the soul is finally free to contemplate without interruption.

If this is true, what then does Descartes have to say about the body? To Descartes the body, although not part of human essence, is loosely connected to the soul through the brain’s pineal gland. Descartes proposed that through the pineal gland the soul could experience sensation, order movements, and recall memories. In this way, the soul may order the

Descartes justifies his belief that the soul is separate from the body in Meditation 6 through what is called the conceivability argument. Essentially, Descartes argues that if he can conceive of a thing clearly, then that thing is possible in the material world. From this, he claims that he can conceive of his body existing without his soul, and his soul without his body. Therefore, he concludes that the two exist as separate entities. The argument makes sense, however, I can’t help but think he goes to far as to claim the soul and body as clearly conceived. By this, I mean that Descartes might be overlooking an unknown connection between body and soul. For example, I may be unaware of the physiological role my kidneys play and assert that I can clearly imagine my body without these seemingly useless organs. Yet, my kidneys do play an important part in sustaining my body, thus the claim was made out of