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The mind and body descartes theory
The mind and body descartes theory
Describes the common framework of the mind
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Descartes argues that animals and machines are essentially the same because animals do not have reasoning, akin to a machine. He denies that animals can think or communicate, arguing that animals lack the capability to reason, so they cannot comprehend the full meaning behind a thing, only that a thing is. For example, an animal can know that the snapping of a twig means pain or death if they don’t run, but it won’t recognize that the snapping means hunter, bow and arrow, desire to kill. Descartes states that animals can make certain movements and sounds to appear as though they feel, but they were programmed to do so when certain stimuli were encountered. He argues that animals lack the irreplicable “part” that humans have which prevents animals from communicating in such complex ways as language, “for one sees that magpies and parrots can utter words just as we do, and yet they cannot speak as we do”. He also takes note that animals do not act on intelligence, as they can do something better than we can, but they do not excel in everything we can; therefore they act only as nature programmed, and not as cognitive beings. Descartes’s argument is false because animals are …show more content…
If animals are machines because they are not aware; then their movements are just a reaction to a programmed stimuli, which is false. Awareness is being the capability to perceive oneself and its surroundings. In a sense, a machine can pretend and may even be convincing, but the machine itself is unable to perceive the “pain” that it feels whereas animals are able to genuinely react. A machine could be given a convincing action to associate with the pinching of one’s hand, but it would not associate the pinching with actual
Review of Descartes: An Intellectual Biography and Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain
Descartes’ argument for why corporeal things exist follows logically. Descartes begins his argument stating there is a difference between sensory perception and understanding. He explains, “There is in me a passive faculty of sensory perception…but I could not make use of it unless there was also an active faculty, either in me or in something else, which produced or brought about these ideas. But this faculty cannot be in me since the ideas in question are produced without my cooperation and often even against my will (AT VII: 79; p. 55)”. Descartes establishes that when he senses something, he understands it and does not imagine it. Here he also concludes that it is not our discretion whether we sense something or not; we cannot chose to
Another one of Descartes arguments supporting the separation of humans and animals is that if machines were created to resemble and act like animals, there is no way we would be able to tell them from the real thing. Unlike the animals though, a machine created to resemble a human could never pass off as real. According to Descartes, it would be impossible to get the machine to react to other humans in an appropriate way. Human conversations are too complicated for machines to understand and interact properly without flaw. This is what separates humans from animals. Even the dumbest ma...
He explains the concept of Cartesian body in which he states that there is some connection between mind and body. Mind doesn’t necessarily need any imagination for thinking process but body is somewhere linked to imagination. He explains many links between mind and body. He gives examples like if he feels hungry, his mind would tell his body to eat something. These types of examples make him understand that mind and body works in a parallel way. But mind is distinct from the body, as Descartes’s existence is a thinking thing which is independent of body and Descartes’s body is an extended thing which is independent of mind. So he concludes that he being a thinking thing can exist without a body. But mind and body are combined to form one unit. This leads him to the idea of Cartesian dualism, which is mind-body dualism. If we carefully use our mind, we can avoid judgments which consist of errors. Furthermore, he explains the existence of external material things. He proves it by explaining that he believes in the existence of external material things because of his senses. God has created him with this nature and as God is not a deciever, material things exist and contain the properties necessary for
Descartes is hopeful to prove subsistence of the external world (physical objects located in space), and so he returns to a very basic stage and acknowledges the existence of minds as an immaterial substance and God. He then accepts that matter exists as long as it is not a projection of his own mind or God. As Descartes previously established the existence of God as a perfect being, he therefore has concluded that God is not a deceiver. This very clear concept leads him to accept his clear and distinct sensory experiences are a result of external objects of material nature. Once these corporeal things (objects of a tangible, material nature) can be considered as self-evident ideas, they can no longer be products of the mind or God.
In constructing his argument for God's existence, Descartes analyzes several aspects of the nature of human thought. He begins by outlining the various types of thoughts we have, which include ideas, thoughts, volitions and judgments. Ideas, or images of ideas can only exist within the mind and are certain of existence. Volitions, or choices are firmly within the mind and are also certain. Emotions, such as love, fear, hate, all exist in the mind and are certain as well. Judgments involve reference to effects outside the mind and are subject to doubt. Therefore, judgments are not certain and distinct. Descartes believes that images, volitions, and emotions are never false but it is our judg...
Descartes dissected animals, believed that the fluid in our brain cavities contained animal spirits that flowed through the brain in “nerves” to muscles causing movement.
Descartes explored the different relationships that exist between the senses, the imagination, and the understanding and while he cleared them, one thing still needs to be brought to light. It is only through calling into question and doubting our judgments ( brought to us by sense perception) that we avoid error, “ but since everyday pressures don’t always allow us to pause and check so carefully, it must be admitted that human life is vulnerable to error about particular things, and we must acknowledge that weakness of our nature” ( 35).
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. Descartes is talking about something called interactionist substance dualism. He is stating that the mind and body causally interact with one another. This can be summed up to say that as easily as the mind can cause changes in the body, the body can also cause changes in the mind. Therefore the mind and body must be intimately united. An example of this is having the intuition to raise your hand. Your mind thinks about raising your hand and your body automatically does so. Contrary to this, if you step on a pin, your body tells your brain it has stepped on something sharp, thus causing pain, and your brain tells you that you have pain and to get off. In order to follow this, you must have a strong belief in the existence of God. For only God has the means necessary to make me certain that the two things exist separately of each other. This is because God is a perfect entity, and is capable of countless things whose true causes are beyond my knowledge.
Once Descartes recognizes the indubitable truth that he exists, he then attempts to further his knowledge by discovering the type of thing that he is. Trying to understand what he is, Descartes recalls Aristotle's definition of a human as a rational animal. This is unsatisfactory since this requires investigation into the notions of "rational" and "animal". Continuing his quest for identity, he recalls a more general view he previously had of his identity, which is that he is composed of both body and soul. According to classical philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, the key attributes of the soul involve eating, movement, and sensation. He can't claim to h...
According to Descartes, “because our senses sometimes deceive us, I wanted to suppose that nothing was exactly as they led us to imagine (Descartes 18).” In order to extinguish his uncertainty and find incontrovertible truth, he chooses to “raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations (Descartes 59).” This foundation, which Descartes is certain to be the absolute truth, is “I think, therefore I am (Descartes 18).” Descartes argues that truth and proof of reality lies in the human mind, rather than the senses. In other words, he claims that the existence of material objects are not based on the senses because of human imperfection. In fact, he argues that humans, similarly to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, are incapable of sensing the true essence or existence of material objects. However, what makes an object real is human thought and the idea of that object, thus paving the way for Descartes’ proof of God’s existence. Because the senses are easily deceived and because Descartes understands that the senses can be deceived, Descartes is aware of his own imperfection. He
A major falling point of robots and machines when placed in a human’s position is that robots cannot improvise. Robots can only do what they are programmed to do. if Damasio is right, emotions are ‘improvised’ by the human brain even before someone is conscious of what they are feeling. Therefore it is even harder to make machines feel true emotions. An example of this exists in Ray Bradbury’s short story “August 2026.” A completely automated house survives after nuclear warfare has devastated the Earth. Cheerful voices go on announcing schedules and birth dates, the stove prepares steaming hot food right on time, and robotic mice keep the house spotless and free of dust- in eerie contrast to the barren and destroyed city surrounding it. The house lets nothing in, closing its shutters even to birds, but lets in a sick and famished stray dog, which limps into the house and dies. The robotic mice think nothing of the dead dog but a mess that needed cleaning up: “Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical wind. Two-fifteen. The dog was gone. In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.” The house, seeming so cheerful, caring for its attendants, has no compassion or reverence for the dog. The mice were programmed to clean up messes, and nothing beyond. This is why in science
Descartes was incorrect and made mistakes in his philosophical analysis concerning understanding the Soul and the foundation of knowledge. Yes, he coined the famous phrase, “I think therefore I am,” but the rest of his philosophical conclusions fail to be as solid (Meditation 4; 32). Descartes knew that if he has a mind and is thinking thoughts then he must be something that has the ability to think. While he did prove that he is a thinking thing that thinks (Meditation 3; 28), he was unable to formulate correct and true philosophical arguments and claims. For instance, his argument for faith that a non-deceiving God exists and allows us to clearly reason and perceive was a circular argument. Another issue with Descartes' philosophy is that he wanted to reconcile scientific and religious views, which is wrong since the two maintain completely different foundational beliefs and they should exist exclusively- without relation to the other. Thirdly, he believed that the mind was the Self and the Soul, failing to recognize that humans have bodies and the outside world exists, and through which we gain our knowledgeable. Lastly, Descartes argues that ideas are all innate while they actually are not- we gain knowledge through experience.
One of the ways in which Descartes attempts to prove that the mind is distinct from the body is through his claim that the mind occupies no physical space and is an entity with which people think, while the body is a physical entity and cannot serve as a mechanism for thought. [1]
Although their minds are not as advanced as a human's, animals are still capable of thought. Frans de Waal, author of "The Whole Animal", feels that humans and animals are closely related, through anthropomorphism. I agree with anthropomorphism, but not with anthropodenial. I also disagree with Rene Descartes' statement that animals are machines, because just as humans have different individual personalities, animals of the same species also have different behavioral characteristics. For example, some cats are arrogant and rude, while others are kind and playful, just like people. Georgia, the chimpanzee who spit water on unsuspecting visitors, did not do this out of instinct. Instinct would have told her to swallow the water.