Cartesian Dualism

Real Distinction Argument P1.Whatever can be clearly and distinctly conceived apart can exist apart. P2.Whatever can exist apart are necessarily distinct from one another. P3.I can clearly and distinctly conceive my mind apart from my body. P4.Therefore, my mind can exist apart from my body C.Therefore, my mind is necessarily distinct from my body.

Real Distinction Argument P1.Whatever can be clearly and distinctly conceived apart can exist apart. P2.Whatever can exist apart are necessarily distinct from one another. P3.I can clearly and distinctly conceive my mind apart from my body. P4.Therefore, my mind can exist apart from my body C.Therefore, my mind is necessarily distinct from my body. A way of talking about the possibility of separation even where there is no such actual separation.

Real Distinction Argument P1.Whatever can be clearly and distinctly conceived apart can exist apart. P2.Whatever can exist apart are necessarily distinct from one another. P3.I can clearly and distinctly conceive my mind apart from my body. P4.Therefore, my mind can exist apart from my body C.Therefore, my mind is necessarily distinct from my body. A consequence of the necessity of the non-separability of identical things.

Real Distinction Argument P1.Whatever can be clearly and distinctly conceived apart can exist apart. P2.Whatever can exist apart are necessarily distinct from one another. P3.I can clearly and distinctly conceive my mind apart from my body. P4.Therefore, my mind can exist apart from my body C.Therefore, my mind is necessarily distinct from my body. A conclusion that Descartes reached in Meditations 1, 2.

Real Distinction Argument (Deriving the 3 rd Premiss) He can’t be certain that bodies exist because the evidence for them is merely sensory, and the senses can be deceived. He can’t be certain that bodies exist because the evidence for them is merely sensory, and the senses can be deceived. The same possibility of error does not exist for the claim that his mind exists. (‘Cogito ergo sum’.) The same possibility of error does not exist for the claim that his mind exists. (‘Cogito ergo sum’.) So he exists as a thinking thing. But are mind and body distinct? Consider their essences. So he exists as a thinking thing. But are mind and body distinct? Consider their essences. The example of wax: the essence of the wax is extension (occupying space) and is known not through the senses but through ‘a purely mental contemplation’ The example of wax: the essence of the wax is extension (occupying space) and is known not through the senses but through ‘a purely mental contemplation’ the essence of Mind is thinking. the essence of Mind is thinking. The fact that the idea of thinking does not entail the idea of extension or vice versa shows that the one cannot be a mode of the other. The fact that the idea of thinking does not entail the idea of extension or vice versa shows that the one cannot be a mode of the other.

Real Distinction Argument Objections 1. He has not shown that he has a clear and distinct idea of the mind apart from the body. He assumes that unless the concept of body is a part of the definition of ‘mind’ a complete concept of the mind is possible apart from that of the body BUT there might be necessary external relations between things that rules out having a complete concept of the one without the other. Eg. correlative terms like ‘parent’ and ‘child’

Real Distinction Argument Objections 2. Excluding Body from my essence is just an intellectual abstraction Compare thinking of something as being a right angled triangle but doubting whether the square of its hypotenuse was the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Real Distinction Argument Objections 3. The argument is a fallacy. p1.I can conceive of my mind as unextended. p2.I can not conceive of my body as unextended c.Therefore my body and my mind are distinct. BUT p1.I can conceive of the evening star as being different from Venus. p2.I can not conceive of Venus as being different from Venus c.Therefore the evening star and Venus are distinct.

The Argument from Divisibility P1.The mind is indivisible. P2.The body is divisible. P3.If A is identical with B, then any property that A has B also has C. Therefore, the mind is distinct from the body.

The Argument from Divisibility Objections 1. It makes very good sense to talk about the parts of a mind or even of divided minds. 2. Certain cognitive functions depend upon the body, such as perception, memory. 3. Descartes equivocates upon the word ‘division’

Mind/Body Dualism Popular Dualism The Mind drives the body like a man in a tank.

Mind/Body Dualism Substance Dualism The world consists of at least two types of thing, two substances, one of which is material and is essentially extended, and the other of which is mental and is essentially thinking.

Mind/Body Dualism Observations Mind does not give life to the body Mind does not give life to the body The soul does not dwell in the body like a pilot in a ship The soul does not dwell in the body like a pilot in a ship Descartes says that the soul is ‘substantially united’ to the body, or ‘mixed up in i t’. a subtle fluid – the animal spirit – flows through the nerves and is the medium of communication between mind and body. a subtle fluid – the animal spirit – flows through the nerves and is the medium of communication between mind and body. MindPineal glandNerve fibres Limbs Sense organs Nerve fibresPineal glandMind

Mind/Body Dualism Objections 1. The most common objection to substance dualism is that it is inconceivable that the two substances should be able to affect each other at all. Responses a.Occasionalism. b.Pre-established Harmony. c.Double-Aspect. Princess Elizabeth to Descartes: I admit it would be easier for me to concede matter and extension to the soul than the capacity of moving a body and of being moved, to an immaterial being. Descartes to Princess Elizabeth: Descartes to Princess Elizabeth: I beg [Your Highness] to feel free to attribute this matter and extension to the soul because that is simply to conceive of it as united to the body.

Mind/Body Dualism Objections 1. The most common objection to substance dualism is that it is inconceivable that the two substances should be able to affect each other at all. 2. There are objections to Dualism on the grounds of various conservation laws. 3. Ockam’s Razor. There is no increase in explanatory power provided by this new substance. 4. Scientific Psychology speaks against dualism.