Notes on Descartes's Cartesian Dualism
Cartesian Dualism (Descartes Dualism) Notes
In a nutshell, Descartes believed that the mind and body are completely different, however they still work together- “I think, therefore I am” Descartes believed that a man consisted of MATTER- (The physical stuff that walks, talks, and plays the accordion) and MIND – (The nonphysical substance (sometimes equated with the soul) that thinks, doubts, and remembers)
Descartes had some key ideas on what the mind and body involves, these included:
The mind does not have anything to do with the physical body, it is non-corporeal. The mind and body are two separate entities (different things)
The mind is a substance whose essence is to think and takes up no space (could be spiritual), while the body is material and its essence is to take up space. (The body takes up space but is not conscience; the mind doesn’t take up space but is conscious). My opinion on this is that the mind is something you can’t really see, like love, and you know its there but it does not take any space because you cannot physically see it. However, the body is material, it is a physical being and takes up space, it’s kind of like the outer shell. One can even use a car as an example, it is fragile and benefits us by taking us from point A to B, but without the ‘mind’ or in this case the person behind the wheel, it is just a car- material.
The body has a material form, which can be described in terms of its size, shape, position or movement
Descartes stated that ideas were in the mind, not out in the world waiting to be grasped (completely in contrast to Plato who believed that the soul wants to escape the body in order to follow Plato’s ‘forms’)
Cartesian Dualism can be simply summarized as follows:
The mind is the place in which all feelings, sensations and thoughts are known only to the person experiencing them
The body performs all physical activities, which are observable to all
The mind and body interact with each other, as the mind
In a nutshell, Descartes believed that the mind and body are completely different, however they still work together- “I think, therefore I am” Descartes believed that a man consisted of MATTER- (The physical stuff that walks, talks, and plays the accordion) and MIND – (The nonphysical substance (sometimes equated with the soul) that thinks, doubts, and remembers)
Descartes had some key ideas on what the mind and body involves, these included:
The mind does not have anything to do with the physical body, it is non-corporeal. The mind and body are two separate entities (different things)
The mind is a substance whose essence is to think and takes up no space (could be spiritual), while the body is material and its essence is to take up space. (The body takes up space but is not conscience; the mind doesn’t take up space but is conscious). My opinion on this is that the mind is something you can’t really see, like love, and you know its there but it does not take any space because you cannot physically see it. However, the body is material, it is a physical being and takes up space, it’s kind of like the outer shell. One can even use a car as an example, it is fragile and benefits us by taking us from point A to B, but without the ‘mind’ or in this case the person behind the wheel, it is just a car- material.
The body has a material form, which can be described in terms of its size, shape, position or movement
Descartes stated that ideas were in the mind, not out in the world waiting to be grasped (completely in contrast to Plato who believed that the soul wants to escape the body in order to follow Plato’s ‘forms’)
Cartesian Dualism can be simply summarized as follows:
The mind is the place in which all feelings, sensations and thoughts are known only to the person experiencing them
The body performs all physical activities, which are observable to all
The mind and body interact with each other, as the mind