How The Mind And Body Are United Based On Rene Descartes ...

Introduction In this essay, I will discuss how the mind and body are united based on Rene Descartes’ argumentations in The Meditations Of First Philosophy. First, I am going to introduce a few of Descartes’ arguments and his position on the matter. Then, I will pick the most questionable argument and put it up against logical reasoning with evidence. Finally, I am going to conclude how the 17th-century philosopher proposes a fallacious argument which interferes with his Cartesian dualism theory. The Position Rene Descartes believed in what is known as â€Å"substance dualism†. Substance dualism means accepting the view that things come in material and immaterial forms. In The Meditations of First Philosophy, Descartes wishes to convince the†¦show more content†¦P2) Anything that I can conceive must also be logically possible. P3) If it is possible for A to exist without B, then A is not identical to B. C) I, a thinking thing, cannot be identical to my extended body. As it can be seen, the propositions state that if we can conceive of two things as distinct, then it is logically possible for them to exist as such. As an example, Rene can conceive of an entity which does not have a body, but not an entity with the absence of a mind. This very argument was the second point to proving Descartes’ distinction between body and soul. Finally, Descartes’ third dispute for the distinction of mind and body, ‘The Divisibility Argument’, lies in Meditation VI. He reveals his thoughts by saying: â€Å"I perceive that there is a big difference between the mind and the body insofar as the body, by its, nature, is always divisible whereas the mind is evidently indivisible† (Descartes, 2003: 67). He explicitly states that it is easy for him to imagine the body, a material substance, being split into parts. However he cannot imagine the mind, an immaterial substance, as having parts. Further on, Descartes heavily relies on Leibniz’s Law to construct the argument. Leibniz’s Law, also known as ‘Indiscernibility of Identicals’ proclaims that there cannot exist two identical substances with differing properties. Descartes’ argument can be simplyShow MoreRelatedBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagesbetween truth, belief, and justification. †¢ Ethics, or moral philosophy, is concerned with questions of how persons ought to act or if such questions are answerable. The main branches of ethics are meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Meta-ethics concerns the nature of ethical thought, comparison of various ethical systems, whether there are absolute ethical truths, and how such truths could be known. Ethics is also associated with the idea of morality. Platos early dialogues includeRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesrelevancy should attract readers. Stanley Baronett. Jr., University of Nevada Las Vegas Far too many authors of contemporary texts in informal logic – keeping an eye on the sorts of arguments found in books on formal logic – forget, or underplay, how much of our daily reasoning is concerned not with arguments leading to truth-valued conclusions but with making choices, assessing reasons, seeking advice, etc. Dowden gets the balance and the emphasis right. Norman Swartz, Simon Fraser University