“How successful is Descartes substance dualism”

1. Problem of Interaction

1. Problem of Interaction

• Descartes argues that the mind and the body must be separate as they are two different substances which are incompatible

• The essence of the body is the extension of physical space

• The essence of the mind is non physical thought

• use of Lebinez principle

• Whilst the physical body can be separated, the mind cannot further suggesting they are two incompatible sources.

• However:

• Elizabeth of Bohemia raises the issue on interaction- for two things to interact they must have two sides two clash which therefore produces interaction- if the mind is non physical then how is it supposed to interact with a physical body (eg like a ghost riding a bike) Descartes doe not provide a sufficient explanation for this- attempting to argue the pineal gland is the reason for this as the pineal gland is in the physical body as is cabals of single thoughts- the link between the mind and the body- however this is still using the physical as an explanation for the mind

• Zinn argues that a dogs brain is is fully divisible

• Therefore- Descartes fails to explain the correlation between the mental and the physical.

2. Logical Privacy

• Descartes began to doubt that his body was real[ the mind and body must be separate as he could imagine his mind without a body - could imagine losing a foot, an arm or some other part of his anatomy- suggested that this would not reduce his soul/mind in any way

• He could not deny his mind as “i think therefore i am”- could not doubt his mind- suggested he could be being deceived by a devil however he has an image of God is his mind which could not deceive him

• The concept of God in his mind relies on his mental faculties being right and that God was not some evil deceiver

• Furthermore- logical privacy- how do we know that others also have minds- all we can see is the physical- JS Mill- the mind/body interact in a law like way- must exist

• However- we can never know for sure- all we will ever see/know is the persons physical body/acts/words-

3. The criticisms of Gilbert Ryle

• Gilbert Ryle argues that Descartes is in grammatical error (a category error) when he speaks of the soul/mind as a separate substance

• The example of the university student- nothing more than to what we see

• The mind is like a ghost in the machine- an extra entity is attributed when none is needed- mental/physical events are not distinct in this view

• Ryle suggests that way we can the mind are dispositions of our body

• The mind is the the intelligent dispositions of your body

Conclusion:

Ultimately Descartes argument fails to be persuasive as we are unable to verify the argument and fails to answer key questions on interaction- Descartes can therefore be accused of using his theory to fit the facts rather than proving anything