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Comparing Descartes Arguments On The Nature Of Mind And Body

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Manuel Lopez
Prof. Weber
PHL 200
5 November 2015
Descartes' Account Of The Nature Of Mind And Body
The dualism of body and mind is a subject that has brought many arguments in philosophy. Many theories purport that the body and mind are two distinct things that can exist separately. One of the theories is Rene Descartes’ argument on the state of mind and body. This paper gives a critical evaluation and analysis of Descartes argument on the nature of the body and mind.
According to Descartes, the nature of the body is totally different from that of the mind. According to him, the body is not a thinking object whereas the mind can think (spiritual substance). Further, the mind does not have parts whereas the body has parts, meaning it is extended. He therefore concludes that the two are separate elements or substances and are independent of each other.
Several religious teachers, common people and psychologists have accepted Descartes theory. Majority of people support that just from natural observation of things, we can know that the mind the body are two different things. A human being is composed of both flesh (body) and soul. The body possesses different elements; it can be …show more content…

This is not possible since our imagination uses images or pictures derived from our sensory organs. We can imagine or think of what our eyes have seen, what our ears have heard or what we have tasted etc. therefore the two cannot exist independently. The mind-body interaction as asserted by Descartes contradicts and raises a lot of questions. If the mind is a spiritual being and the body is physical body and the mental events are totally different from the physical events, how can the two interact again? And furthermore the mental properties have no physical properties therefore it is not possible for them to

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