In this paper I will identify the major disagreements between Rene Descartes and Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia on the question of mind/body interaction (i.e. dualism vs physicalism). Moreover, I will then argue in favor of the physicalist perspective given by Princess Elizabeth.
The issue between Descartes and Princess Elizabeth is that of the mind-body problem; Whether or not the mind and body are separate states of existence.
Descartes argues the dualism perspective (i.e. mind and body are two separate and distinct entities) while Elizabeth raises objections to Descartes dualism and argues the physicalism perspective (i.e. everything that which exists is nothing more than physical substances and their physical properties).
The disagreements between Descartes and Elizabeth
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• How can excitations of the body (eyes, ears, nose, etc.) create mental occurrences such as sensations?
In regards to mental causation, Elizabeth asks Descartes:
• How is it possible for the body to be affected by the mind?
• What is the connection/correlation between a mental occurrence (e.g. decision to bend leg, twist hand, move head, etc.) and its corresponding physical movement?
Descartes’ responses to these questions does not move much beyond his argument that senses show that the mind and body interact with each other. He would often jump amongst the two distinct disputes of mind-body and body-mind interaction. His responses would often evade the question at hand and moreover open up further issues (e.g. whether mind-body union is a tertiary substance, implying a possible contradiction in seeing mind and body as both two discrete substances and together as one, etc.)
Elizabeth does not see Descartes explanations as sufficient and rejects the notion that the thinking capability is existent solely independently of the body (i.e. a thinking thing constitutes a