Descartes Coherent Conception Argument Analysis

1. Dualism is an idea that attempts to answer the mind-body problem by arguing that the mind and body are two distinct substances. Descartes’ coherent conception argument is a form of interactionistic dualism, which states that if the mind and body are undoubtedly separate than they interact in a casual relationship. This argument states that anything a person coherently conceives can be made possible by some power. It then states that if a person distinctly understands the mind and body are separate substances than some power can make it such that the mind and body are separate. The theory then goes on to state that if it is logically possible for the mind and body to exist separate from each other, then they are distinct substance, and therefore the mind and body are separate substance. Antoine Arnauld’s argument that Descartes doesn’t have a complete understanding of the mind convinces me that Descartes’ second premise is not true. It can be coherently conceived that even though Descartes’ believes he has a complete

The type identity claim is a theory that argues that what it is to be “a” is the exact same for what it is to be “b”. This would mean the same as saying “a” and “b” have an identical identity during all instances. If the statement “Apples are fruit” was a type identity claim, it would mean that every time we have an apple we have a fruit and that every time we have a fruit we have an apple. The first part of the statement is true, an apple is a fruit, but just because we have a fruit doesn’t mean we always have an apple, which disproves the theory. The fruit statement would be a token identity interpretation, which tells us whenever we find an “a” we will find “b” for the reason that they seem to go together, not because they are the same. In this instance, we have an apple, so we also have a fruit, but the token theory tells us that they do not share the exact same identity, which is why we can still find a fruit that is not an