Cartesian Dualism Analysis

Rene Descartes wrote an intriguing text, titled, The Discourse of the Method. Descartes main focus was idea of Cartesian Dualism. This philosophy is based on the notion that there are two kinds of opposing foundations, the mind, res cogitio and the physical body, res extensa. The mind is defined as a mental phenomena and non-physical entity that contains mental properties such as experience and memories. The body is outlined as having physical properties such as weight and size, and operates like a machine. The body and mind cannot be considered to be made up of the same substance because of their differences. The distinction of the mind and body is founded on their diverse natures and is the root of the mind-body problem, leaving the question about how these two substances interact. That is, he sees mind and body as two very distinct things. His physics explains the workings of bodily substances, that is, substances whose essence is extension. Mind, on the other hand is not extended. It is a substance whose essence is thought. Keeping this theory in mind, the same philosophy can be related to humans and animals. The mind and body dualism can be synonymous with the difference between the human and animal properties.

Using Cartesian dualism, the topics

The discussion begins regarding animals as non-human machines, all of whose actions can be fully explained without the inference of a mind. Descartes declared, most human behavior, like that of animals, is susceptible to simple mechanistic explanation. Uniquely designed bodily regulations can be imitated by carefully designed machines (19). Thus, Descartes argued, it is only the general ability to adapt to widely varying circumstances—and, in particular, the capacity to respond creatively in the use of language—that provides a sure test for the presence of an immaterial soul associated with the normal human