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Anne Conway’s Critique of Cartesian Dualism
ABSTRACT: I describe and analyze Anne Conway’s critique of Cartesian dualism. After a brief biographical introduction to Conway, I sketch some of the influences on her philosophy. I then describe her non-Cartesian view of substance. According to Conway, there is only one substance in created reality. This substance contains both matter and spirit. A purely material or spiritual substance is, she argues, an impossibility. Next, I discuss several of Conway’s arguments against Cartesian dualism. Firstly, dualism is inconsistent because dualists, while denying that concepts such as divisibility and extension are applicable to spiritual substance, nevertheless use such terms when describing the soul or spirit. They assume that soul or spirit is something particular which can be located somewhere. Secondly, she argues that dualism results in mechanism because it makes too sharp a distinction between body and soul, thus regarding the body as a mechanical machine and the soul as something which is not integrally related to the body. Thirdly, dualism cannot account for the interaction between mind and body. The two substances of which a dualist speaks are defined on the basis of the exclusion of characteristics. But the two things which have nothing in common cannot influence each other causally.
1. Introduction
During his lifetime and in the centuries following, the dualism and mechanism of Descartes' philosophy gave rise to a great number of objections and discussions. In this article, I would like to consider a response to Descartes' views which is somewhat less well-known than others, that of Anne Conway. Conway's reaction to Descartes is interesting because she speaks from out of a metaphysical tradition different from those of many other philosophers who discussed his ideas. (1) In addition, she makes use of a pre-modern, non-abstract idea of spirit, a conceptualisation of spirit which has been lost or sidelined in the philosophical tradition after Descartes. On the basis of an entirely different ontology of matter and spirit from that of Descartes, Conway questions the presuppositions of dualism as well as its abstract view of spiritual substance.
In this paper, I will begin with a short biographical sketch of Conway and a survey of some of the main influences on her thought. I will then briefly describe her philosophical system. I will then discuss her critique of Descartes' dualism. Finally, I will consider the question of how her views can be of value to us today.
To read Damasio's critique alongside Stephen Gaukroger's remarkably rich intellectual biography of Descartes, however, is to realize that Damasio could just as aptly have titled his book "Descartes' Vision." As Gaukroger points out, Descartes was reviled during his lifetime and for a century after his death not for his dualism but for his materialism. Only when the history of philosophy was rewritten in the nineteenth century as the story of epistemology did Descartes come to bear the double designation of being both the "father" of modern philosophy and the ranking nativist who visited upon us the catastrophic separation of mind from body and of reason from emotion. These labels are essentially caricatures that distort the actual complexity of what Descartes struggled to work out in his cognitive theory. Gaukroger reconstructs this struggle for us, sometimes on a month-by-month basis, showing how Descartes shuttled back and forth between an account of the body and the pursuit of the mind.
A short background on the laws concerning surveillance will help clear up some misconceptions on the NSA. Back in 1968, the Wiretap Act protected citizens from the government listening to their phone call...
Beckett, Celia, Jenny Castle, Christine Sonuga-Barke, Colvert Edmund, and Stevens Jana. "The experience of adoption: a study of intercountry and domestic adoption from the child's point of view. Adoption and Fostering.
Richard Taylor explained why the body and the mind are one, and why they are not two separate substances. In the article “The Mind as a Function of the Body”, Taylor divides his article in a number of sections and explains clearly why dualism, or the theory that the mind and the body are separate is not conceivable. In one of these sections it is explained in detail the origin of why some philosophers and people believe in dualist metaphysics. As stated by Taylor “when we form an idea of a body or a physical object, what is most likely to come to mind is not some person or animal but something much simpler, such as a stone or a marble”(133). The human has the tendency to believe a physical object as simple, and not containing anything complex. A problem with believing this is that unlike a stone or a marble a human (or an animal) has a brain and the body is composed of living cells (excluding dead skin cells, hair, and nails which are dead cells). The f...
"Designer Babies – Like It Or Not, Here They Come | Singularity Hub." Singularity Hub.
Descartes, Rene, and Donald Cress. Mediations on First Philosophy In Which The Existence of God And the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1993. Print.
Dualism is the view which states that there exists two types of substances. An immaterial entity that is responsible for our mental life, and a material body . It claims that both are able to interact and affect one another. In Difficulties for the Dualist by Smith, P. and Jones, O.R. , many problems are raised against dualism. I will focus on the nature of the mind/body interaction. The argument claims that the mind/body causal interaction is mysterious, and therefore materialism is the more attractive argument. I will disagree with the authors by arguing that body/body interactions are equally mysterious considering that both types of interactions both boil down to a rock-bottom explanation in which we can no longer further explain. I will then conclude that dualism is valid in claiming
Playing particular attention to meditations II, V, and VI this paper will explore the role of the imagination as examined by Descartes. In the second meditation, Descartes is of the opinion that the imagination and the senses are deceiving him, and that the nature of bodies are perceived by the intellect as opposed to the imagination. Within the body of this paper, the introduction of his wax argument will serve as support for this realization. In addition, in the sixth meditation Descartes makes the argument that the imagination depends on something outside of ourselves, and therefore is not essential. The means by which he reached such a position will be explored through the relationship that exists between the imagination and the understanding. Through a critical analysis of Descartes reasoning this paper shall explore the different approaches that led him to his conclusion at the end of the sixth meditation that the imagination is not in fact deceiving him and is therefore to some extent necessary.
Neal, L. (1996). The Case Against Transracial Adoption. Regional Research Institute for Human Services, http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/fp/spring96/transrac.htm
...g and adoption clearly demonstrate that there is still an underlying current of racism in the policies and practices being employed by the childcare professionals that is inadvertently trapping too many vulnerable children within the care system. Nevertheless, whilst it is socially acceptable for ethnic minority children to be fostered indefinitely by white families it is deemed unacceptable for the same families to adopt their happy fostered ethnic minority children. Furthermore, it is tragic that children, who are successfully transracially adopted, have their adoptions classed as failures as they have been achieved at the expense of the child’s ethnic identity. Despite evidence that transracial adoptees are psychologically well adjusted and are able to employ cultural socialization strategies to overcome the problems associated with transracial adoption.
Many people grow up in loving families and cannot imagine not having their parents and siblings around, but each year, 18,000 or more American born babies are put up for adoption (Newlin Carney). That means at least 18,000 children face the harsh truth of maybe not having a family to grow up in. Childhood is a very important part of one’s life and helps shape who one is. These children that are eligible to be adopted just need loving parents, good homes, and stability. And who is to say the high price of adopting is not ho...
Using Strawson’s examination as a guide to Descartes philosophy,i have tried to show how the two issues, of individuation and identity threaten to destroy Descartes’ philosophy of mind-body dualism.
Throughout the history of metaphysics the question, What is? has always been answered in an incomplete,unsatisfactory or complicated manner, but Spinoza tried to answer this question in an exceptional way simply by describing God and His essence. Based on Spinoza’s views, God’s qualities can be referred to as attributes and modes are merely affections of a substance. This paper will provide a detailed view of Spinoza’s key ontological definition of God as the only substance, his attributes, and their co-relations. The study goes further to explore the major scholarly argument between Spinoza and Descartes, in regard to their view of substance, and its attributes. Descartes and Spinoza appear to hold different perceptions in regard to the existence of substance.
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
Many parents ask, are vaccines safe for my child? I am one of those parents but the more research that I have done, has put wondering thoughts to rest. Many parents believe that vaccinations are linked to the causes of autism, multiple sclerosis, asthma and many other health problems. Although many parents have legitimate reasoning to not have their children receive vaccines, there are more pros than cons to receiving the vaccines. In rare cases children have became sick after immunizations, some life threatening. Because of vaccine safety and studies, the change in affordability of the vaccines, and recent decreasing results of major disease outbreaks, vaccines are helping keep children and our society safe.