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Implications of Cartesian Psychophysical Dualism for free-will and determinism

For Descartes, reality consists of two fundamental substances: the mental, and the physical. The mental substance is distinct from the physical substance in that it is not bound by the deterministic, ...
KeithMadison's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

How does Descartes argue that mind and body are different substances if mind can exist without a body?

How does Descartes argue that mind and body are different substances if mind can exist without a body? I think he does this in meditation II Descartes’ argument so far is that minds can exist ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
88 views

Does Descartes explain or define how the sensation mechanism works?

Especially in Meditation 2, Descartes uses "sense", "sensation" many times when he argues for the mind-body distinction. But does he explain the sensation mechanism? I wonder this because it seems to ...
4pie0's user avatar
  • 83
2 votes
4 answers
4k views

Why does Descartes think that we know our mind better than we know our body?

According to Descartes we know our own mind better than we know bodies. Why does he think so? How can this view be criticized?
4pie0's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
263 views

According to Descartes, the mind and body communicate through a tiny part of the brain (the pineal gland) where the 'common sense' is located

True or False? I'm unsure about this question because it seems like he only refers to the mind and the brain in this context, but not the body as a whole. Here's the passage: "The mind isn't ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why does the dream argument posit that the senses are untrustworthy when it's the mind that is being tricked?

According to the wiki of the dream argument, "the act of dreaming provides preliminary evidence that the senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion should not be fully trusted, and therefore,...
user3776022's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

How can Brie Gertler's disembodiment argument account for the minds of others?

I'm currently reading Brie Gertler's essay In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism. She uses Descartes' conceivability argument to make her own disembodiment argument. For example, she says someone can ...
Lilly's user avatar
  • 11
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Did Descartes really doubt the existence of God?

I've learned about Descartes' universal doubt and as I understood it, he says mind that is supposed to interact with God isn't part of res extensa and therefore isn't part of the senses we can doubt. ...
Probably's user avatar
  • 721
1 vote
2 answers
390 views

Has Descartes interpreted the rational mind as res cogitans?

I've read several description of the Descartes' dualism but I'm still not really sure: Does Descartes comprehend the human rational mind, human psychology - the part of thinking that is not ...
Probably's user avatar
  • 721
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

In which books does Descartes propose his ideas about mind-body dualism?

In which books does Descartes propose his ideas about mind-body dualism?
PunkZebra's user avatar
  • 169
1 vote
2 answers
189 views

Does Cartesian Doubt Depend on Cartesian Dualism?

Even though this isn't exactly accurate, the way I like to think of Descartes' hyperbolic doubt as stating that there's no way to prove that information gained through sensory experience is accurate. ...
That Guy's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
7k views

What is the modern solution to the mind-body problem for those who still hold the mind is separate?

René Descartes gave us the problem of how the mind interacts with the body in its modern formulation. Essentially, he asked how the incorporeal mind was able to influence the material body. He also ...
Jon Ericson's user avatar
  • 7,465