Dualism is a view that attempts to explain the relationship between mind and matter. Aristotle and Plato have tackled their version on dualism. Cartesian means “pertaining to the thought of Descartes” according to Edward Feser, “Philosophy of Mind.” Cartesian Dualism originates from Rene Descartes whose version of dualism is well known and an accepted explanation of the mind and body being vastly different. Let’s go deeper in the thoughts of Descarte’s and the support to the validity of his view on dualism.
According to Professor Edward Feser’s book “Philosophy of Mind” Descarte’s “dualism claims that there is a difference between the mind and the body. Basically the mind is different from the body. We need a body to sustain life, whereas Descarte’s view is that the mind is an immaterial object. The mind allows a person to think, hope, believe and even doubt. These exist only in the mind and not a physical object. They are not physical, but the body is. Cartesian dualism clearly separates the conscious (mind) as a separate non-material form.
Now let’s look deeper into the physical aspects of the body and the physical aspect of the mind. Descarte’s view depicts the body and the mind as extremely different. The body is a materialistic object; it has height, width, has movement and takes up physical space. The body itself is full of chemicals, water, tissue, organs and a skeletal frame that makes the body a physical object. These are the physical aspects of that differ from the mind. The physical aspect of the body can clearly be substantiated. Now when we think about the mind in the sense physically, how can it be described? The mind has no physical appearance. Don’t confuse the mind with the brain here. The brain is physical but it’s not the mind. The mind has no physical attributes. Descarte believes that the mind
