René Descartes Separation Of The Mind And The Body

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This paper will be discussing René Descartes’ argument on substance dualism, and more specifically the argument of separation of the mind and the body. Descartes proposes the argument of substance dualism in defense of the view that there are two types of substances: the mental substance and the physical substance. Therefore, substance dualism also states that the mind is a mental substance which is separate from the body, despite both having a connection to each other. This view is in contrast to the more popular physicalist view, which states that all entities in the world are solely physical.
In this essay, I will argue that Descartes’ argument that attempts to call into question the physical is unsound. The reasoning behind Descartes’ argument lies in his sixth meditation, which states that (a) The mind is understood to be indivisible, (b) The body is understood to be divisible, so therefore, (c) The mind must be different from the body (Descartes 52-57). I will be arguing for this view of the separation of body and mind, and in conclusion, I will provide a counter-argument to Descartes’ proposal.
This argument, which argues for the belief that …show more content…

The objection is: if the mind and the body are completely separate and independent entities, then how can these two entities come together to create the human being as we know it? This is a common argument among physicalists and non-substance dualists, such as Princess Elizabeth in her letter responding to Descartes’ sixth meditation. For example, because of the nature of the human experience, the joint connection between the mind and the body is what causes physical movement. We think about moving our arm or leg, and our arm or leg moves in the physical world. Therefore, there is a question as to how a mind and a body could come together to create this

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