2.  Doubt- to be uncertain about something, to hesitate to believe  Dualism- the belief that the mind and body are separate (but interact). Mind is a kind of spiritual or metaphysical entity whereas body is physical

3.  Rationalism- Epistemological theory that knowledge flows from our reason rather than experience  Empiricism- Epistemological theory that all reliable knowledge comes to us through our senses and experience

4. 1. Never accept anything except for clear and distinct ideas. 2. Divide each problem into as many parts as are needed to solve it. 3. Order your thoughts from the simple to the complex. 4. Always check thoroughly for oversights.

5. “Cogito Ergo Sum.” “I think therefore I am.” › Doubt everything except that I am a thinking entity.

6.  When Descartes said accept nothing, he means nothing he isn’t 100% sure of. This doesn’t leave much to be sure about.  Epistemological Skepticism- The idea that there is no justification for any belief about the world, not even for obvious things like the existence of our bodies. › (The point is to get us thinking, not prove that things don’t exist)

7.  Descartes Epistemology › When you see or sense an object, the mind forms an idea of the object. The idea is then more real than the original object. › Since the idea is more real than the object, this is Rationalism.  Dualism : Two basic substances in nature – the mind and the body (Descartes)

8.  What is a mind? › Is a mind the same thing as the brain? › Is a mind the same thing as our conscience? › Is a mind a physical (does it occupy both time and space)?  Can the mind exist without a body?  What happens to our minds when we die?

9.  Monism : There is one basic substance in nature – the mind and body are aspects of the same thing. (Spinoza)  Spinoza argued that two separate entities could not cause changes between each other. So the mind and body can not be two independent and separate things.

10.  A Near-Death or Out-of-Body experience can be used to argue Descartes’ Dualism.  These are cases in which the body has died or lost consciousness but the mind has (possibly) continued to exist.