Examples Of Descartes Dualism

Descartes was a substance or cartesian dualist who therefor believed the mind and body to be two separate independent things that can survive on their own but are linked. Descartes arrived at this conclusion by hyperbolic doubt which lead to his famous truth ‘i think therefor i am’ as he realised the only thing he could not doubt was his own consciousness, and decided that his thinking self is a product of his mind and must be separate from the body because it cannot be doubted like the body can.

Descartes problem of explaining how nonphysical mind and body interact is saved by 20th century interactionism suggesting that the mind supervenes on a properly functioning brain. However if this idea of consciousness being on top of the brain where

However materialists such as Ryle argue against Descartes dualist approach, arguing that the mind is no ‘Ghost in the machine’ and to suggest the mind is a secret ghostly thing is a ‘category mistake’ (treating the concept as if it is exclusive to one system of ideas). Ryle instead believed that the soul is a function of the brain and illustrates this point with the example of how oxford university is made up of many colleges and it is not one of the building or something in addition to the buildings that makes up oxford but all of them

While Plato described the soul as the driving force of the body, Aristotle believed it to be the whole package of humans including its function and purpose. For instance, Aristotle compared the body and soul to the eye- sight being its soul as when ‘seeing is removed the eye is no longer an eye except by name’. Through this Aristotle explains how the body is not separate from the soul suggesting that an afterlife would be impossible as the soul would die as the body does. Here Aristotle’s theory can be defended because it is derived from reflection on his studies of the natural world, however descartes dualism explains how the properties of matter could not produce something as complex as consciousness or such experience and understanding, instead these qualities could only come from a type of reality that is nonmaterial. Furthermore Aristotle goes on to contradict himself by saying that is possible for the reason of a person to live on after death but not in a recognisable form, despite how previously Aristotle attributes reason to one of the faculties of the human soul, suggesting that at least part of the soul separates from the body at death. Aristotle arrived at this conclusion as he believed reason to be associated with the pure thought of the prime mover, his infinite, eternal and perfect being which