Descartes Views on the Topic of Philosophy of Mind Essay

Descartes Views on the Topic of Philosophy of Mind Descartes has indeeed made some notable contributions towards the philosophy of mind. It is the aim of this essay to discuss these contributions. Descartes is well known for being an avid dualist. This is the view that the mind and body are understood to be seperate and distinct from each other, but in some way causally connected. Descartes was no exception and believed the mind and body to be two completely different substances. He defines the body as an extended, non-thinking substance and the mind as a non-extended, thinking sunstance. But it not just these definitions that allow Descartes to adopt a dualistic point of view. Descartes†¦show more content†¦However this is all Descartes says on the subject concluding that there must be some way in which they are connceted (which god knows). With Descartes being a dualist, he fundamentally thought that the mind was more important than the body. After all the mind cannot be doubted whereas the body can. Infact for Descartes the mind is primary and if a question of identity should arise the mind should be associated as the self. He argues that even if he didnt have a body he would essentially be the same as long as he had his mind with all the correct falculties intact. But Descartes went further than this and defined the fundamental element of the mind and his existence as the ability to think. As long as Descartes continued to think he would continue to exist. It is in meditation II that this line of thinking emerges and lead Descartes to his famous maxim, cogito ergo sum or in English I think there I am. This maxim is free from universal doubt and is always necessarily true whenever the thought is conceived. Its truth depends not on any sensory data but rather a cognitive process of the mind and therefore expresses t he indubitability of ones own reality. With the certainty of his existence established Descartes continues to question his identity (eg: what exactly this I is thatShow MoreRelatedComparative Analysis Of Rene Descartes s Philosophy1084 Words   |  5 Pageseducation on philosophy and Roman catholic theology. He also involved himself in the study of sociology as well due to the issues that were present in the social atmosphere . His views on knowledge and liberal education was that they were both necessary in developing a healthy and â€Å"pure† environment in the society . Rene Descartes was a philosopher of a different time however. 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