Descartes: Relationship Between Mind and Body

Descartes concludes from his first meditation that he is a thinking thing, and as long as he thinks, he exists. In the second meditation, Descartes attempts to define what the “thinking thing” that he concluded himself to be in the first meditation actually was. Descartes’ determines that he gains knowledge of the world, that is, knowledge that is separate from the mind, through the senses; and that the senses can deceive. This he outlines within the first meditation, and mentions on the second meditation. Furthermore, in the second meditation, Descartes refuses to define himself as a rational animal, instead going back and relying on labeling him mind as a thinking thing. In the fifth and sixth paragraphs of the second meditation, Descartes distinguishes the body from the soul. Descartes indicates that there is the presence of the body, and it seems to be in the physical world, but he also notes that his mind does not seem to exist in the same manner. Descartes also claims that the ability to perceive is a power of the soul, but inoperable without the body. Descartes then explores another object with physical substance, which is a piece of wax. The piece of wax is undeniably physical; it takes up space within the material world. The body falls into the category, just as any other physical object in the material world. The main point of Descartes’ second meditation is that any given person can know more about their mind than of the world surrounding them.

In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes makes a point that there is a distinction between mind and body. It is in Meditation Two when Descartes believes he has shown the mind to be better known than the body. In Meditation Six, however, he goes on to claim that, as he knows his mind and knows clearly and distinctly that its essence consists purely of thought. Also, that bodies' essences consist purely of extension, and that he can conceive of his mind and body as existing separately. By the power of God, anything that can be clearly and distinctly conceived of as existing separately from something else can be created as existing separately. However, Descartes claims that the mind and body have been created separated without good reason. This

Just because one can clearly and distinctly perceive the mind and body as distinct, does this mean that they actually are? Some argue against Descartes’ claim that the mind can exist without the body, saying that just because Descartes can think of his mind existing without his body, does not mean it really can. The main difficulty with Descartes argument relates to the overall idea of dualism, specifically about whether one thing, the mind, is the same thing as another, the body, or whether they are

Like many people today, Descartes believed that the mind and soul were separate. He believed that the mind’s purpose was only for “thinking” and “non-extended” things. While, the body is an extension; non-thinking. Descartes thought that the mind and body were different substances, thus they

he distinction between the mind-body has been a controversial issue for centuries. Descartes' views differed from earlier scholars who described the mind-body as having different entities, one was physical and the other was abstract. Additionally, the theory that existed implied that the interaction between mind-body flowed in one direction. Therefore, the mind had a greater influence on the body, but on the other hand, the body had very little effect on the mind. One scholar described it as "a puppeteer pulling the strings of the body" which was almost independent of each other. However, Descartes had a different perspective on how he viewed the mind-body. He agreed the mind-body was different, however he also believed the mind

Descartes’ proof that the Mind and the Body are distinct substances is as follows, First Descartes asserts that everything that can be clearly and distinctly understood is within the ability to be created by God as to correspond identically with the way that Descartes understand things in the world. It follows from this assertion that because Descartes is able to clearly and distinctly understand one thing apart from one another is enough to make them noticeably different in substance. Descartes follows this with the notion of the mind, saying that because one is able to possess a clear and distinct understanding of their self as a distinct and separate substance, which is not extended into the environment and handles all of the logical thinking. He continues to say that he possesses a clear and distinct understanding of the body as an extended and unthinking. He finishes with the conclusion that this demonstrates that the body and the mind are actually distinct form one another.

that you exist is proof that you in fact exist as how can you doubt

Descartes’ dualistic view of mind and body is that they are two separate entities in which the mind is immaterial and the body being material. Descartes supports this by assuming,”If we can conceive of one thing without the other, then those two things are different”(90). Furthermore, Descartes’ view holds that humans are not their body, but just their thinking mind essentially because they are distinct from one another. The thinking mind is important for the self to develop and it does not need to body to develop that self. They do affect each other where the mind tells the body what to do, but one can grow to be weak and the other strong at the same time.

Just like a computer cannot fulfill its full function without a software, the mind and the brain are exactly the same and have a strong symbiotic relationship between the two, though they are both distinct. Descartes believes the mind is indivisible for a few reasons, reason number one is because the mind is a complete thing, he states in his 6th mediation that that the fact that he cannot “distinguish” parts in himself, he is a “complete thing.” Descartes also states that the reason why the mind is divisible is because if one or many limbs were severed from the body, it would not take away anything from the mind, other than the fact that one is aware a limb or many are missing. One other important factor in why Descartes believes the mind is truly indivisible is because the body is an “extension” and that therefore if there is anything that can be added on or amplified, it is capable of of being divided.

Descartes’ Meditations take us through what can be called into doubt and what he concludes is absolutely certain. Descartes argues that the mind and body are two distinct things, but he acknowledges that they are somehow connected. Although, Scholars have noted Descartes’ argument of the separation of mind and body, they have missed the importance of how he justifies the connection between the two, because God willed it so.

My purpose in this paper is to explain and clarify Descartes’ view of mind, also called “Cartesian dualism” by René Descartes, widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy (Newman 2014) in the middle of the seventeenth century. Lavelle (2014) concludes that Descartes thought that the mind is distinct from the body and that the mind must be made of a fundamentally different substance to that of the body and other things found in the physical world. Descartes’ argument is expressed by Lavelle (2015, p. 40) through ‘argument from doubt’.

In this paper, I will be writing about the traditional problem of mind and body. I will look at the views of Rene Descartes and George Berkeley. I will be siding with Descartes.

In the beginning, Descartes wonders who is controlling his thoughts. Is it god or himself? And then believes that nothing in the world exists. then the next question that comes up is whether if he exists. Existing and thinking, he then states “I think therefore I am” meaning if I am thinking therefore I exist. He then proves that the mind is separate than the body, I agree with Descartes that the mind is separate from the body. The mind is its own. The human body is just a mechanical structure. You can imagine your self without a body but you can’t imagine yourself with out a mind. He then argues that the world, the sky, arms, and hands could

Descartes discusses the existence of the human mind as a separate entity from the human body, including the a passage confirming his own existence as nothing but a thinking entity, in his writing Principles of Philosophy (I. 63-65). Following his rejection of all knowledge, in order to divide what was false from what could be proven, Descartes strives to prove the existence of his own mind, as a basis from which to prove the existence of the rest of the universe. I think his premise is flawed, Through the concept of doubt, he finds a contradiction (I am thinking about not

In the following essay I will be talking about Rene Descartes, his meditations and explaining why the following claim of Descartes that the mind is better known the body is false.