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Descartes and the dualism theory
Descartes and the dualism theory
Analyzing descartes on the mind-body problem
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Instead, it uses the brain as a medium in order to receive indirect communication from the mind. The mind is the “brains of the operation”, and the brain serves to connect the mind to the physical realm. Again, there is no way to actually physically measure the mind that substance dualism speaks of. Since this is the case, it is very possible that the mind is actually the soul. The soul is a popular belief amongst modern society as well as in past societies throughout history.
Descartes did not explain how the mind and body interact with each other. One point brought up by Descartes was the material body and an immaterial mind. When I asked how the mind and body interact in this situation he just said, “they are united”. I felt that Descartes did not make a strong enough argument to help clarify this point to me. Ryle’s was able to persuade me in his direction after presenting his argument.
Rene Descartes’ argument for substance dualism (the theory that the mind and body are two separate substances) and an immaterial mind is as follows. It is conceivable for me to be a mind without a body, but not vice versa, so the mind must be independent of the body. Logically this argument is valid such as that if it is possible for a mind to be without a body then the mind must be independent. The problem with this argument is on the premise that it is conceivable to be a mind without a body. Theodore Schick criticized this argument well by asking if is truly possible to be a mind without a body.
Most famously advocated by René Descartes, substance dualism is the view that minds, which are essentially thinking and consist of mental substance, and bodies, which are necessarily extended and made of material substance, are ontologically separate entities. The material and mental have entirely different natures, so a mind cannot be equivalent to a body. Human beings, therefore, must be mixtures of the two substances. Substance dualists assert that, despite lacking properties in common, mind and body connect through the capacity of each to causally affect the other (Kim 34). While this position may initially appear intuitive and commonsensical, Descartes and subsequent dualists have faced a multitude of challenges concerning mental causation.
In the sixth meditation, Descartes postulates that there exists a fundamental difference in the natures of both mind and body which necessitates that they be considered as separate and distinct entities, rather than one stemming from the other or vice versa. This essay will endeavour to provide a critical objection to Descartes’ conception of the nature of mind and body and will then further commit to elucidating a suitably Cartesian-esque response to the same objection. (Descartes,1641) In the sixth meditation Descartes approaches this point of dualism between mind and matter, which would become a famous axiom in his body of philosophical work, in numerous ways. To wit Descartes postulates that he has clear and distinct perceptions of both
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
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 gland that he is referring to is the pineal gland. He credited the pineal gland as the link between the material body or brain and the immaterial mind or soul. Through this, we can see the Descartes is also talking about the animal nature in each of us. He deliberately says, “by means of the animal spirits” to relate how we are still animals by nature. Descartes’ theories got a lot of attention from the science world with his claims about the pineal gland.
Even the knowledge of a body is also given to us, where the body is the tool for the mind to interact with a physical domain no matter what form it
The philosopher Descartes speaks on the entities dear to any person, the mind and body. In the Meditations, speaks about the dualism of the mind and body and their properties. Descartes believes with the will of God something as the body and mind that are joined together have the possibility of existing separately. As stated by Descartes, “I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing; and on the other hand, I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an extended, non-thinking thing.” He follows this statement up with “And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body and can exist without it.
Descartes addresses the faculty of sacred theology in the preface to his Meditations. Although there are some elements of the Mediations that this faculty would accept as true, Descartes’ push towards cartesian metaphysics, would be met with resistance. One of the main proponents of Cartesianism that the council would not support is its dualism. Descartes’ acknowledges the existence of bot a body and a soul, however, he believes that an individual’s true essence is held within the soul. The implications of this, is that once an individual experiences bodily death they will still exist in full as their soul.
However, in Cartesian Dualism, the mind is an immaterial thing: there is no visible, physical path to trace! We cannot physically see the mind interacting with the body. This raises not only the question of which mind is paired with which body, but also if there is even a causal interaction at all, like Descartes claims there is. Indeed, how can I know that the mind interacts with the body if there is no evidence that I can see that tells me
“ The brain is the most complex organ in the body and is probably the most complex system known to humankind. Our brain contains billions of neurons that are constantly sending signals to each other, and it is this signaling that creates our minds” this just goes to show how much our brain would have being useless without the help of the mind. I chose to use the article Brain, Mind, and Altered States of Consciousness By Norman D. Livergood in my last paragraph since in my study I have try to find a spiritual connection between mental illness and scientific definition of mental illness so throughout the course of this term I have move fort and back between the
The philosophical issue of the mind and body problem reduces down to mainly two opposing views debated by John Locke and Gottfried Leibniz. Locke’s view leans towards occasionalism, physical events do not strictly cause mental events. He believes God himself inserts the correlating thoughts into one’s mind. Leibniz has a more metaphysical point of view, the mind and body share a rational connection that sparks thoughts. After conducting research, I favor the view of Leibniz; the mind and body have a rational connection between physical experiences and events that lead to correlating thoughts in the brain.
The body is affected by the mind sometimes or vice versa. The body and the mind are separate, and they have connection so they affect one another. Descartes laid the groundwork here. We are physical beings because we are extended in space. We are mental beings because we think.
