Descartes Mind Body Problem Essay

First of, what is the ‘Mind/Body problem’?The mind/body problem, in one of its aspects, concerns the relation between the two. Some people have thought that the mind and body are one and the same, the mind being just one aspect of the body and located in or identical to the brain. On the other hand, some consider that they must be separate, either wholly or significantly, with the mind not being equivalent to the brain.
Descartes is, perhaps, the philosopher that most people reference when discussing the mind-body problem. For Descartes, there are two substances: Mind and Matter. Each substance has a defining attribute. In the case of Mind, the defining attribute is Thought. In the case of Matter, the defining attribute is spatial Extension. It is important to note that for Descartes, substances can have nothing in common, otherwise they would not be fundamentally different things. The mind-body problem arises out of this view of substances, because if mind and body have nothing in common, then in what way can they be said to interact? This is known as the problem of interaction.

v Interactionism holds that the mind can influence the body and the body can influence the mind and it is in this way that they are united. Descartes was an interactionist. v Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental activities are by-products of the physical.
Research and investigation was done on this and turned up no solid conclusion to either support or refute the question. However, one report concluded that a dispatched head was able to respond by opening his eyes whenever the doctor mentioned his name; blinking and mouthing words. Now, since no solid evidence can support consciousness, it could simply be a reaction… but one thing is for sure, the brain may not actually expire for at least several