Preview

Notes on Descartes's Cartesian Dualism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
770 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Notes on Descartes's Cartesian Dualism
Cartesian Dualism (Descartes Dualism) Notes

In a nutshell, Descartes believed that the mind and body are completely different, however they still work together- “I think, therefore I am” Descartes believed that a man consisted of MATTER- (The physical stuff that walks, talks, and plays the accordion) and MIND – (The nonphysical substance (sometimes equated with the soul) that thinks, doubts, and remembers)
Descartes had some key ideas on what the mind and body involves, these included:
The mind does not have anything to do with the physical body, it is non-corporeal. The mind and body are two separate entities (different things)
The mind is a substance whose essence is to think and takes up no space (could be spiritual), while the body is material and its essence is to take up space. (The body takes up space but is not conscience; the mind doesn’t take up space but is conscious). My opinion on this is that the mind is something you can’t really see, like love, and you know its there but it does not take any space because you cannot physically see it. However, the body is material, it is a physical being and takes up space, it’s kind of like the outer shell. One can even use a car as an example, it is fragile and benefits us by taking us from point A to B, but without the ‘mind’ or in this case the person behind the wheel, it is just a car- material.
The body has a material form, which can be described in terms of its size, shape, position or movement
Descartes stated that ideas were in the mind, not out in the world waiting to be grasped (completely in contrast to Plato who believed that the soul wants to escape the body in order to follow Plato’s ‘forms’)
Cartesian Dualism can be simply summarized as follows:
The mind is the place in which all feelings, sensations and thoughts are known only to the person experiencing them
The body performs all physical activities, which are observable to all
The mind and body interact with each other, as the mind

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    For example, the mind provides functions such as thinking, doubting, hating, or desiring. In contrast, the body or brain are mere physical extensions, and simply represent how a person is shaped or the color of their skin. The body and brain do not provide contributions to the mental functioning of a being, and simply provide a physical platform under which the mental, and its own capacities of thought and contemplation, may be housed. As an extension, all things in the universe may be qualified as a body, a physical entity, or a mind, a thinking entity. Additionally, a mind does not need a body to provide it shelter, and regardless of ever having a body, a mind will exist for eternity because it lacks the characteristics of a physical entity, which cause it to degenerate. In conclusion, Substance Dualists perceive the mind and body as separate and distinct substances due to their unique abilities and…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap Psychology Quiz

    • 2654 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In thinking about psychology and consciousness, the idea that the mind and the body are separate entities that interact makes a lot of sense to you. This view that you hold is most like the view of:…

    • 2654 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He states that one can understand the mind to exist separately from the body. The middle term of the argument, as noted in the major premise is the separate understanding of two things, and he presents the idea of mind and body as the minor term. Descartes devotes a larger share of the argument to defending the minor premise, perhaps because the idea of body and mind as separate substances is more controversial than a general notion of separate substances as distinct. He goes on to expound not only the idea that the mind and body are separate, but that the essence of the human being lies in its nature as a thinking thing. As thought is the essence of the human being, and the principle attribute of the mind is thought, the mind can therefore be seen as more fundamental to humans than the body. Descartes acknowledges that it is likely for a body to be joined to the mind, however he maintains that one can still conceive of both body and mind as separate substances. And as the essence of the body is extension rather than thought, it is fundamentally less relevant to a thinking…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Divisibility

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Descartes believes the mind is not dividable. He believes that the mind has no mass. I would have to agree the mind does not have any mass and is just housed in our body. It does the thinking for our body and is still somewhat of a mystery. The mind which I believe to be our soul uses the body as a home. As a young child I’m taught that the soul lives on even when my body is no more. I believe the mind is a gift from God and controls the body for as long as my mind continues to…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Among other things, Renee Descartes was an influential philosopher during the enlightenment era. This era, which is characterized by what, at the time, was controversial thinking is exactly what Descartes was known for. His "out of the box" thinking not only raised eyebrows, but it also brought a lot to the table. One of his most discussed ideas was that of substance dualism. In this theory, Descartes describes the mind an body as two separate substances. But to completely understand exactly what Descartes means by this, one of his other, more renowned theories must be explained first.…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Philosophers have undertaken several studies to analyse the nature human beings and this has given rise to the formulation of many speculations and theories about the nature of the mind, body and the relationship in between, if any. This is referred to the mind-body problem (P. Lloyd, 1953). Focus is therefore made on the identity theory of mind and brain basically identifying the mind with the brain ascribing the different functions of the mind to that of the neural brain processes.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Arguments Against Dualism

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is a claim that the world is physical, and as such, there is no spiritual, mental separation of the human mind and brain (Smart, 2012, p.1). Since there is no difference between the two, the human mind and brain are the same entity (Smart, 2012, p.1). For if “sensation X is identical to brain process Y then if Y is between my ears and is straight or circular … then the sensation X is between my ears and is straight or circular” (Smart, 2014, p.3). It is maintained, that the workings of the mind equals the workings of the brain (Smart, 2012, p.1). Human beings are only human, physical bodies. Therefor human being’s behaviours, judgements and responses are all an action of the brain, which could also be called the mind. Meaning the mind is explainable, according to laws of physics and chemistry (Calef, 2015,…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Zombie Argument

    • 1641 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cartesian Dualism is Descartes’ concept of dualism which states that physical and mental events belong to two different substance; the mind is immaterial and the body is material and all people possess this dual nature “I thought of the Queen and I saluted” there is the mental I and the physical I who does the act of saluting (Blackburn, 1999: 51). Cartesian Dualism states that minds are not in space, they are not subject to the laws of physics and most importantly minds…

    • 1641 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The mind and body problem can be divided into many different questions. We can consider or ask by ourselves that what is the mind? What is the body? And do both of them are co-existing, or does the mind only exist in the body? Or does the body only exist in the mind? Otherwise, we also will consider that if both the mind and body exist, and then there could be a number of types of relationships. Maybe the mind will affect our body. Or maybe the body will affect our mind, or maybe the mind and body will both affect each other.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Elisabeth presses Descartes to make a light on the mind-body participation, he inevitably responds. Descartes' response is reluctant and in addition opens up further issues, His responses are twofold. Firstly, he battles that a reaction to this issue presupposes a clarification of the union between the brain and the body (Atherton, 1994). Also, he guarantees that the question itself come from a false presupposition that two substances with finish diverse natures can't follow up on each other (Atherton, 1994); and imply there is an inconsistency in considering brain and body as both two particular substances and as joined together (Mattern 1978). As demonstrated by Descartes' points of view, the psyche and the body are two unmistakable sorts of substances. The body is spatially expanded and unequipped for feeling or thought. The brain, of course, is unextended and fit for thought and…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Descartes S Myth

    • 286 Words
    • 1 Page

    In “Descartes’s Myth,” Gilbert Ryle main conclusion is that the body and mind are two separate beings.…

    • 286 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mind Body Debate

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Philosophers have been debating for centuries the relationship between the mind and the body and whether they are separate entities, or if they are one. This is known as the mind/body problem. If the mind being our consciousness and the body being our brain is separate parts, do they relate to each other or work together? If they are one, do they depend on each other? The idea that the mind and body are one is called monism. The idea that the mind and body are separate is called dualism (Newall, 2005).…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Descartes Essay

    • 327 Words
    • 1 Page

    Descartes believes that humans are comprised of the mind and the body. Despite the fallibility of his thoughts and knowledge, and despite his notion that God might be in control over everything in his life, he believes that he has total control of his own mind and body. Descartes asserts that reality is true because he has control over his body and that what he does is his own decision. To further solidify this, he uses the example of dreaming. Descartes differentiates dreams from reality by stating that the improbability of the events, as well as the lack of any sensory feelings such as touch, disprove any notion that dreams could be reality. Dreams occur in the mind, completely independent of the body. Descartes claims that God could be deceiving him into believing in this physical reality, when everything known and believed could actually be a dream world created and implicated by God.…

    • 327 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Looking at the religious motivation towards Descartes’ theory of mind – body dualism, Descartes, just like numerous other religious believers, believed that the human soul was immortal and since at the point of death the human body became functionless, the soul, which he equated to the human mind was immortal and therefore this was proof that the human body and the human mind were two distinct substances. Looking at the scientific connotation, Descartes looked at the nature of physical things and established that they lacked mentality (Russell,…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays