Summary Of Descartes On The Mind-Body Distinction - 751 Words

1 Zhiyuan Li Philosophy 3230 Short Paper Assignment Descartes on the Mind-Body Distinction In the Sixth Mediation, Descartes advances a compact argument for the idea that the mind and the body are distinct (2006, AT 78). In this essay, I’m going to present what I take Descartes’ argument to be, and very briefly evaluate it afterwards. Descartes starts with the thought the we can understand, at least, something, and we can understand something in a specific manner: clearly and distinctly; we can’t be wrong, according to Descartes, about things we understand clearly and distinctly (Mediation Four, AT 59). Similarly, if we can clearly and distinctly understand a thing in a way that does not appeal to or depend on another thing, then we can’t†¦show more content†¦On the one hand, the body is supposed to be a sort of thing that has extensions: it has shapes, it has size, it occupies certain spatial position, and it can be in rest or in motion (AT 43, 78). On the other hand, from previous meditations, Descartes concludes that â€Å"I† am only a thinking thing from the observation that thinking is what could survive even if there were an all-power deceiving God (AT 27). And here, the â€Å"I† can be understood in terms of the mind that does not include a corporeal body since Descartes was meditating as if he didn’t even have a body (AT 27). Thus, it seems that we can understand the mind and the body clearly and distinctly from each other in that the mind is a thinking thing and not an extended thing, whereas the body an extended thing and not a thinking thing. In other words, 6. The body and the mind are understood clearly and distinctly in a way that does not depend on each other. Once this is secured, by a series of modus ponens, it follows that 7. Therefore, the mind and the body are really distinct. As far as I’m concerned, the logic of the argument looks intact, but I do not find the second premise very convincing, which says if two things can be separated (in practice), then they are really distinct. Instead, perhaps in order for two things to be really distinct, it’s not only sufficient (albeit necessary) that they can be separated inShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke And Rene Descartes1442 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophers are individuals who address critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs with underlying theories of their own. John Locke and Rene Descartes were both classified as modern philosophers in the seventeenth century who sums up the subject about personal identity and its determents in reference to our own existence, such as who are we? 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