Cartesian Dualism: Arguments and Objections

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Body
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Dualism is a very old theory that has its roots in the Greek culture. According to the Greeks, the spirit of a man is supposed to be distinct from his physical body. According to them, the soul and the body do not have any contact with one another. In reality, Greeks termed the body to be a hostage abode of the soul. This means that dualism is not just another number in the Greek order of words. Its a theory that basically refers to the dividing of the soul and the body in to two distinct parts. This paper expounds on the meaning of dualism and discusses different philosophies contained in this theory. It then gives an evaluation of the theories discussed and finally concludes by explaining why Cartesian Dualism has become obsolete. (Schick 650)

Main Body

Rene Descartes who was born in 1596 is the founder of psychology as we know it today. Descartes believed that the soul only inhabited the body that he termed to be automatically controlled. To him, one did not need to tell people that they had a body but they had to defend the presence of their soul. In reality, this means that one can not deny their presence. According to Descartes, both the body and the soul had their origins from two different places. Where the body parts could be separated from each other, the soul could not. He claimed that the soul is in every part of the body and that if the body was transformed in any way this could not affect the soul. Descartes termed this distinct difference between the body and the soul as dualism. At a later date, this came to be known as Cartesian Dualism.

There are different philosophical points for Cartesian Dualism. One argument is what is known as substance dualism. Substance dualism states that every one of us has an immortal part which may be termed as the brain. After the brain there is the substance part which is the physical body. According to Descartes, the human mind functions autonomously from the physical body and can not be destroyed if the body suffers harm. He argues that all our actions are conceived in the soul and not from the body. According to Descartes, the soul can be altered to give it a new form. He says this is due to the fact that the mind like all substance matter can undergo change.

Descartes argues that the mind has been created by God distinctly from the soul. To prove his point, he gives the example of a substance that can exist separately from another. He argues that the mind is different from the body in that they both play different roles at the same time. This is in like a case where ones mind would be busy listening to a particular topic while the body is doing other things. According to Descartes, this clearly proves that God created the body and the mind differently from each other.

Another theory is that presented by the materialists. To them, everything is physical. Though they do not deny the existence of the human mind, they believe that everything can be explained in physical terms. Unlike dualism which states that the body and the mind are different identities, materialists state that the human mind is just a physical matter that can be explained. In short, to materialists a mind is just a different mindset for a particular time of period.

Like any theory in philosophy, the Cartesian Dualism should be maintained by argument. Its also supposed to explain some things which are considered to be a puzzle. Dualism has been objected on these grounds. One objection that people have voiced is on conceivability ground. Descartes states that whatever the mind conceives becomes true. He asserts that everything is possible if it is conceived from the heart. This philosophy has been contested in that some things in life can never change even if we changed our mindsets concerning it. An example of this is like someones name that can never change even if we imagined they were someone else.

The part that states that one can envision his body from his mind has also been objected. Analysts have disputed this on the basis that the picture of an evil spirit that Descartes describes is not viable and cant be applied in real life. It is clear that the mind interacts with the body at a certain point. How this happens still remains a mystery. In reality, a theory tries to explain a complex matter but dualism does not answer this mystery.

Over time, dualism has lost the support of many philosophers. This is due to its unpopularity among many people today. Philosophers term it as irrational since it fails to address matters pertaining to the mind. They however support materialism which they find to be more open in addressing the subject of the mind and the soul. Where dualism is vivid in many areas, materialism is clear on most matters of the soul and the body.

Conclusion

Though Cartesian Dualism has been a good way of explaining matters of the mind and the body, it has been found to have many limitations in its implementation. One clear point that has been objected is on the idea that the soul and the body are entirely different. Besides this being technically impossible, there is no satisfactory explanation for this point. Another part that has been a subject of debate is on the idea that when a soul conceives something, then it has to be true. Many people instead prefer to support materialism which they find to be more adoptive.

Works Cited

Schick, Theodore& Vaughn, L., 4^th ed. Doing Philosophy: An introduction Through Thought Experiments, McGraw-Hill, 1.1(2009): 645-668.

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Cartesian Dualism: Arguments and Objections

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