The Relationship of the Mind and the Body: The Person

1084 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Descartes theory of mind and body

Can the mind exist without the body? Can the body exist without the mind? Surely in this day and age, there are artificial ways to keep the body alive even if the brain is pronounced dead. Likewise, the body can be completely immobilized, in a coma, yet the mind can still be alive and active. But can either really exist in its entirety on its own, performing its functions as usual, and in the same manner as if it was still in union with its partner? In his book, Discourse on the Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes analyzes the mind and the body as two entirely distinct and separate entities. Through his analysis, he concludes that the mind does not need the body to exist. Descartes argues that since we are at the basest form, “thinking things,” our bodily senses are not necessary to our minds and to knowing what truly does and does not exist in the world. He claims that it is our minds alone that think and analyze and determine this. Without them, he says, we could not make connections and know what anything is. Descartes makes a good point - it is true that without our minds, we could not make the crucial connection of sensing something through our five senses and then decipher what it is through our thought process. However, it is right for him to say that our senses, and therefore our bodies, the carrier of our senses, are irrelevant to our purposes, and that we only need our minds to exist? I believe it is not. When Descartes argues that our bodies are not necessary to exist and understand the things around us, he is collapsing the human being to simply a mind, and therefore neglecting what it means to be a person. What does it mean to be person? Perhaps, we should discuss what is meant by the word, “p... ... middle of paper ... ...an celebrate its independence without the body. Saint Thomas Aquinas provides provides us with an explanation of the relationship that the mind and body share, and in doing so, gives the human being its personhood. Through knowing what it means to be a person, we can see that Descartes’ dualistic view of the person provides for a nice discussion topic, but has no real place in the world to be accepted as a truth, for doing so denies human beings of their personhood. Works Cited Aquinas, Thomas. "Question 76. The Union of Body and Soul." SUMMA THEOLOGICA: The Union of Body and Soul (Prima Pars, Q. 76). N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. Descartes, René . Discourse On Method ; Meditations On First Philosophy. Hackett Publishing Company, print. Vovolis, Thanos. Prosopon.The Acoustical Mask in Greek Tragedy and in Contemporary Theatre. Academia.edu, n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Morality In Descartes's Heart Of Darkness And Native Guard

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the Medieval time period, philosophers have studied the diverse relationship between the soul and the human body. One philosopher in particular, Aquinas, argued that “the soul is interconnected with the body in such a way that without it, the human person cannot be complete” while Descartes argued that the two functioned independently (Viti 109). The novel, Heart of Darkness, and the book of poems called Native Guard proves Aquinas’ theory to be valid by highlighting the outward effect on the human body of the blurred line between morality and immorality as corruption and greed, two prevalent themes, take over. In both expositions, the weakening of one’s physical body represents the enduring moral struggle of one’s soul.

    Read More

  • Descartes Body Vs Mind Dichotomy

    2004 Words  | 5 Pages

    This idea begins the philosopher’s ongoing discussion on the body and the mind. The first thing he must do is prove he exists beyond a doubt. Descartes declares, “If I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed” (4). This idea rests on the ability of his mind, if he did not actually exist, he would not be have any sort of mental activity. From this early point in the text, Descartes foregrounds the superiority of the mind. As Blackburn puts it, “he is forced to recognize that his knowledge of his self is not based on knowledge of his embodied existence” (20). For Descartes, the ability the think defines the self (the mind/soul)– he cites thought as the one thing that cannot be separated from him. He believes if he stopped thinking he would stop existing. His ability to think sustains him, at this point in his meditations he is only a mind, his mental existence is the only thing he has

    Read More

  • Difference Between Dualism And Rene Descartes

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    Belief whether or not the mind and the body are distinct substances have split the philosopher community in two: the dualists and the monists. In this essay, I will discuss how the mind and body are not distinct based on Rene Descartes’ arguments 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 appealing argument and put it up against logical reasoning with other philosophers’ points of view. Finally, I am going to conclude how the 17th-century philosopher proposes a fallacious argument which tests his Cartesian dualism theory.

    Read More

  • The Mind as a Function of the Body by Richard Taylor

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Taylor, Richard. "The Mind as a Function of the Body." Exploring Philosophy. 4th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. 131-138. Print.

    Read More

  • Mind Body Dualism

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...n each other and the divisibility of the mind can be explained with examples of memory loss. Descartes claims the mind and body are distinct due to the existence of the body can be doubted and the existence of the mind cannot be doubted as it is a thinking thing. Since the mind is a thinking thing it exists unlike the body therefore the mind can exist without a body. In the Sixth Meditation Descartes further claims they are distinct because the body is a quantitative thing that can be divisible and the mind is a qualitative thing that is indivisible. Although there is some fallacy in Descartes claims as the mind and the body are depend on each other to perform; the mind on the body to act out thought and the body on the mind to function. Memory lost in result of physical injury provides an example of how the mind is divisible and thus the mind and body are linked.

    Read More

  • Conceptions of the Soul

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Plato and Aristotle present two different conceptions of the soul. By examination of their formulations, and the structure and genre they used, Aristotle's perception of the soul is more convincing. I am more convinced by facts than I am ideals. But his views should not be thrown away, for Aristotle's focus upon the organism as a whole as the proper object of study is a successful approach to the question of the nature of and relationship between mind, body, and soul.

    Read More

  • The Distinction Between the Mind and Body

    476 Words  | 1 Pages

    Some would choose to declare that every human being is both a body and a mind. Both being gelled together until death, than having the mind go on to exist and the body being lifeless. A person lives throughout two collateral histories, one having to do with what happens to the body and in it, and the other being what happens in and to the mind. What happens to the body is public and what happens to the mind is private. The events which reply to the body consist of the physical world, and the events of the mind consist of the mental world.

    Read More

  • Descartes Sixth Meditation

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, Descartes claims that the mind and body have been created separated without good reason. This point is not shown clearly, and further, although I can conceive of my own mind existing independently of my body, it does not necessarily exist as so. On page 56, when Descartes talks about how sailors are related to ships and why the mind body union is different, he is vague on the metaphorical analogy. To try to get his point across, dualism is used.

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Theory of the Soul in the De Anima

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...of the body, and no problem arises of how soul and body can be united into a substantial whole: ‘there is no need to investigate whether the soul and the body are one, any more than the wax and the shape, or in general the matter of each thing and that of which it is the matter; for while “one” and “being” are said in many ways, the primary [sense] is actuality’ (De anima 2.1, 12B6–9).Many twentieth-century philosophers have been looking for just such a via media between materialism and dualism, at least for the case of the human mind; and much scholarly attention has gone into asking whether Aristotle’s view can be aligned with one of the modern alternatives, or whether it offers something preferable to any of the modern alternatives, or whether it is so bound up with a falsified Aristotelian science that it must regretfully be dismissed as no longer a live option.

    Read More

  • Cartesian Dualism: The Mind And Body

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    Descartes is led to insist on the duality of the mind and the body after acknowledging

    Read More

  • Summary Of Rene Descartes Dualism

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    The discussion of ‘mind-body’ problem in the work of Rene Descartes involves a complex philosophical system that combines mathematics, psychology and the physical sciences, for example, the use of mathematics by Descartes help him to establish a separation between mind and body. Descartes(1641/1985) suggests that there are “corporeal things” and the ‘intellectual act” (p.55), he asserts that “[corporeal things] in general terms are comprised within the subject-matter of mathematics” (Descartes, 1641/1985, p. 55), those corporeal things according to Descartes have a physical substance and are extended; whereas, by contrast, he maintains that “the mind is not an extended thing” (Descartes, 1641/1985, p. 54), hence

    Read More

  • Rene Descartes: Cartesian Dualism

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    Descartian dualism is one of the most long lasting legacies of Rene Descartes’ philosophy. He argues that the mind and body operate as separate entities able to exist without one another. That is, the mind is a thinking, non-extended entity and the body is non-thinking and extended. His belief elicited a debate over the nature of the mind and body that has spanned centuries, a debate that is still vociferously argued today. In this essay, I will try and tackle Descartes claim and come to some conclusion as to whether Descartes is correct to say that the mind and body are distinct.

    Read More

  • The Mind And Body Dualism

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    RECALL: The writer makes several important points in “Body and Mind” from “Problems from Philosophy”. The writer discusses the idea of the body being a material entity and the mind as an immaterial entity. The mind and body problems arise due to the different types of facts and their relation with each other. The concept of mind body dualism is an attempt to solve this conflict between these two entities and the main points discussed in the chapter are: 1) According to the ‘Conceivability Argument for Dualism’, presented by Descartes, the mind and the body cannot exist without each other and if they were to do so, they would not be the same thing; 2) Physical facts are proven through observations but mental states are private and cannot be

    Read More

  • The Mind-Body Connection

    1749 Words  | 4 Pages

    Overview This paper will discuss the mind-body connection and its relevance to health care professionals and to the public. It will explore the history of the mind-body connection, as well as state research that has been done on the subject. The reader will gain an understanding of the various techniques used in mind-body therapy, as well as their effectiveness. What is the Mind-Body Connection?

    Read More

  • A.I. Film Analysis

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is apparent that we are personified entities, but also, that we embrace “more” than just our bodies. “Human persons are physical, embodied beings and an important feature of God’s intended design for human life” (Cortez, 70). But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human mental life such as human dignity and personal identity.

    Read More

More about The Relationship of the Mind and the Body: The Person

Open Document