Who Is Descartes Define Our Identity?

To what extent if any is Descartes successful in showing there is a real distinction between mind and body

René Descartes believed that the mind and body are separate; that the senses could not always be trusted, but that because we as humans are able to think about our existence, we possess some sort of entity separate than our fleshly body. I believe this separate entity to be a soul”an immaterial and

Descartes’ Conceivability Argument argues that a person is distinct from their body using Libnez Law. Descarte begins with his first premise which states that

One may first look at the argument contained within Descartes’ book Meditations on First Philosophy. In the sixth meditation Descartes states “On the one hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing and on the other hand I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an extended, non-thinking thing. And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and can

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.

Descartes’ argue that mind is better known than body by first claiming humans as fundamentally rational, meaning “a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is unwilling,” ( Descartes, 19) he therefore argues that humans have the ability to know their proper minds clearly and distinctly. He proposes the conception of the mind where the imagination and the senses are also inherent capabilities of the body (faculties), specifically powers of the mind.

     This is where the wax argument comes into play. All the properties of the piece of wax that we perceive with the senses change as the wax melts. This is true as well of its primary properties, such as shape, extension and size. Yet the wax remains the same piece of wax as it melts. We know the wax through our mind and judgement, not through our senses or imagination. Therefore, every act of clear and distinct knowledge of corporeal matter also provides even more certain evidence for the existence of Descartes as a thinking thing. Therefore his mind is much clearer and more distinctly know to him than his body. At this

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

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

Something very essential to know about Descartes is his idea of Cogito Ergo Sum; I think, therefore I am. He believes that he exists because he is thinking, making him a thinking thing. Descartes first premise states, "I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing" (Descartes, 54). The first thing that we need to understand from this premise is what Descartes means by extended; to occupy space. So, since he believes that he is not an extended thing, it follows that he does not take up space. Given this, he looked inside himself and saw no parts within his mind, no space or boundaries that his mind contains. In addition, the mind provides a place for free will and faith, which are not parts but different ways of thinking. He rationalizes this by making the mind of a qualitative substance. By saying that only things that can be measured must be of a material substance and those things that cannot be measured are of a thought like substance. The relation between body and mind now seem to be more divided since he believes that his mind is not extended. In short, this premise states that the mind has no parts, making it indivisible.

For in Descartes terms, it was plausible to doubt that one has a body, but impossible to doubt the existence of one’s mind; therefore “…self and mind must be identical” (Palmer 162).

Since Descartes was able to think, he knew that he existed ultimately. With this in mind, Descartes reckoned that a person 's "self" illustrates their identity. Descartes states: “that he possesses a body intimately conjoined... and that he has a clear and distinct idea of himself, inasmuch...it is certain that this I [that is to say, my soul by which I am what I am], is entirely and absolutely distinct from my body, and can exist without it" (Descartes, Meditations On First Philosophy, pg.29). In fact, Descartes proposes that the body connects dually with the mind, which he believes the body is "divisible", and the mind as "indivisible", but he also informs the readers that he knows certainly who he is. Not only did Descartes deem this information as true, but he was adamant about the possibility of living without a soul. In particular, Descartes depicts a vivid picture of how the

Descartes argues that a distinct idea of my own mind does not include the ideas of imagination, sensation, purposeful movement of body, appetites or most emotions (Principles, part one, §48, I, 208-9). That is, had I none of these things, I would continue to be the same self, although in a much impoverished manner, and could still think (and that alone is my essence) in other ways. All of the above involve some relation to the body.

- The mind has innate and tribal principles prior to each experience, and is not generated by the sense, it is clear and simple without fault, and as a result of this knowledge arises and consists of the correct ideas, such as the principle of the identity that the thing is always the same, and not be another thing, The principle of non-contradiction, which says that the two contradictions do not meet together, and the principle of the attic, that every bug has an explanation and for all those who are wrong, and innate and intuitive ideas of the existence of God, and the existence of the self that comes from thinking, Descartes says,

This takes me onto Descartes’s view of identity. It is important for me to provide some background to Descartes’s thought to fully understand his view on the topic. Within his work, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes sets an objective in which he hopes to achieve: to develop a form of thinking that is definite and valid in any situation, which he defines as a universal science. For Descartes, this universal science will reveal reliable knowledge and disclose what simply is in the world. Consequently, Descartes is working on ontology: uncovering the true nature of being. To achieve his set objective, Descartes suggests a method of hyperbolic doubting. Hyperbolic doubting comes from the human ability to have freedom and reason – human beings can erase all thought and start again from scratch: ‘I had to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations, if I wanted to establish anything firm and lasting.’ (Descartes, 1993, p.13) This means that, for Descartes, letting go of all previous opinions and convictions allows for a clear mind to discover the first point of certainty in human knowledge. Or, in the words of Wilson, ‘he must get rid of all his earlier beliefs in order to make sure that only true opinions will be included among the foundations to be provided for his science.’ (Wilson, 1982, p.6) This is the only way Descartes believes he can find absolute certainty in the world. He wants to apply this method systematically until all