Descartes Essay
Descartes Essay
Descartes believes that humans are comprised of the mind and the body. Despite the fallibility of his thoughts and knowledge, and despite his notion that God might be in control over everything in his life, he believes that he has total control of his own mind and body. Descartes asserts that reality is true because he has control over his body and that what he does is his own decision. To further solidify this, he uses the example of dreaming. Descartes differentiates dreams from reality by stating that the improbability of the events, as well as the lack of any sensory feelings such as touch, disprove any notion that dreams could be reality. Dreams occur in the mind, completely independent of the body. Descartes claims that God could be deceiving him into believing in this physical reality, when everything known and believed could actually be a dream world created and implicated by God.
To say that dreams occur only in the mind, separate from the physical world where the body remains, is a problematic assertion. According to Descartes, the mind and body are what humans are comprised of. Using dreams as an example, he shows that he believes that the two exist on different planes. On the contrary, I believe that the mind and body work together on the same plane. The body obeys the mind in the same way that the tide obeys the moon. The mind and body work together to accomplish things such as moving and conveying thoughts. Thoughts exist primarily in the mind and take physical form through the spoken word and by putting a pen to paper. Returning to the example of dreams, Descartes believes that they exist separately from the body. I argue that dreams can exist physically; there are times when people speak, move, and/or walk in their sleep. In conclusion, the mind and the body exist on the same plane and work together in every human.
Descartes believes that humans are comprised of the mind and the body. Despite the fallibility of his thoughts and knowledge, and despite his notion that God might be in control over everything in his life, he believes that he has total control of his own mind and body. Descartes asserts that reality is true because he has control over his body and that what he does is his own decision. To further solidify this, he uses the example of dreaming. Descartes differentiates dreams from reality by stating that the improbability of the events, as well as the lack of any sensory feelings such as touch, disprove any notion that dreams could be reality. Dreams occur in the mind, completely independent of the body. Descartes claims that God could be deceiving him into believing in this physical reality, when everything known and believed could actually be a dream world created and implicated by God.
To say that dreams occur only in the mind, separate from the physical world where the body remains, is a problematic assertion. According to Descartes, the mind and body are what humans are comprised of. Using dreams as an example, he shows that he believes that the two exist on different planes. On the contrary, I believe that the mind and body work together on the same plane. The body obeys the mind in the same way that the tide obeys the moon. The mind and body work together to accomplish things such as moving and conveying thoughts. Thoughts exist primarily in the mind and take physical form through the spoken word and by putting a pen to paper. Returning to the example of dreams, Descartes believes that they exist separately from the body. I argue that dreams can exist physically; there are times when people speak, move, and/or walk in their sleep. In conclusion, the mind and the body exist on the same plane and work together in every human.