Summary Of Descartes 'Sixth Meditation'
Nicholas Flanders
September 15, 2014
The Divisibility of the Mind
In his sixth Meditation, Descartes makes an argument that the mind and body are not a single entity. Instead, he believes that there is a clear distinction between those two concepts, partly due to the unequal ability to divide each into more basic components. This leads Descartes to the conclusion that mind and body exist separately as two parts in a duality. Descartes describes how the mind is simply a thing that can think. There are no separate parts of the mind for different types of thought, such as understanding or feeling. Therefore, if the mind has no parts, then it must have the property of being fundamentally indivisible.
Descartes then describes how this indivisibility contrasts with the body. The body has discrete parts, such as arms and feet, which can be singled out and removed from the system without affecting the mind. His argument relies on the implied premise that in order for two entities to be the same thing, they would need to have identical properties. …show more content…
Therefore, because the mind and brain have different divisibility properties, Descartes reaches the valid conclusion that the mind and body are distinct. This particular argument for a dualist view of the body and mind relies on the difference in the nature of the body and mind.
However, an argument could be made that the mind is not as singular as Descartes assumes it to be. His idea of the mind as an indivisible entity does not seem to hold true for all people when mental disorders are taken into account. Diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can alter the function of one’s mind in such a way that it behaves in disparate ways. This would mean that the mind must be divided in some way so that there are multiple parts that each have their own unique properties. If all minds really are as uniform as Descartes’ premise states, how could the behavior of some minds seem so dichotomous? Things with different properties cannot be identical, so minds with several sets of properties must be split into several distinct parts. Therefore, not all minds are not
indivisible. Similarly, even individuals without chronic mental disorders may have minds that can be divided. When an otherwise healthy individual experiences dementia, they lose certain parts of their mind that they previously had access to while maintaining regular function in every other aspect. If the mind is truly a single entity that is incapable of being divided, then such an injury should not be able to affect only a part of the mind. However, because dementia is indeed capable of affecting only a part of the mind, then the mind must have parts and is therefore not indivisible. While Descartes does present other arguments for dualism, his argument based on the divisibility of mind and body is not effective as it is based on a premise that may be false in many situations.
September 15, 2014
The Divisibility of the Mind
In his sixth Meditation, Descartes makes an argument that the mind and body are not a single entity. Instead, he believes that there is a clear distinction between those two concepts, partly due to the unequal ability to divide each into more basic components. This leads Descartes to the conclusion that mind and body exist separately as two parts in a duality. Descartes describes how the mind is simply a thing that can think. There are no separate parts of the mind for different types of thought, such as understanding or feeling. Therefore, if the mind has no parts, then it must have the property of being fundamentally indivisible.
Descartes then describes how this indivisibility contrasts with the body. The body has discrete parts, such as arms and feet, which can be singled out and removed from the system without affecting the mind. His argument relies on the implied premise that in order for two entities to be the same thing, they would need to have identical properties. …show more content…
Therefore, because the mind and brain have different divisibility properties, Descartes reaches the valid conclusion that the mind and body are distinct. This particular argument for a dualist view of the body and mind relies on the difference in the nature of the body and mind.
However, an argument could be made that the mind is not as singular as Descartes assumes it to be. His idea of the mind as an indivisible entity does not seem to hold true for all people when mental disorders are taken into account. Diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can alter the function of one’s mind in such a way that it behaves in disparate ways. This would mean that the mind must be divided in some way so that there are multiple parts that each have their own unique properties. If all minds really are as uniform as Descartes’ premise states, how could the behavior of some minds seem so dichotomous? Things with different properties cannot be identical, so minds with several sets of properties must be split into several distinct parts. Therefore, not all minds are not
indivisible. Similarly, even individuals without chronic mental disorders may have minds that can be divided. When an otherwise healthy individual experiences dementia, they lose certain parts of their mind that they previously had access to while maintaining regular function in every other aspect. If the mind is truly a single entity that is incapable of being divided, then such an injury should not be able to affect only a part of the mind. However, because dementia is indeed capable of affecting only a part of the mind, then the mind must have parts and is therefore not indivisible. While Descartes does present other arguments for dualism, his argument based on the divisibility of mind and body is not effective as it is based on a premise that may be false in many situations.