Descartes believed that the mind could exist without the body (dualism)
Descartes believed that the soul/mind was separate from the physical body
what did Descartes believe in?
substancedualism
what is substance dualism?
there are two distinct substances, mental and physical. A substance is a fundamental type of existence which can’t be broken down into anything else. The essence of mental substance is thinking, the essence of physical substance is extension. A thing is extended if it takes up physical space, is located, has coordinates.
what are the 3 waves of doubt?
senses and illusions- doubting the reliability of the senses
dreaming- can we ever distinguish with being awake or dreaming
an evil demon/genius - the possibility of an evil demon deceiving us
what is his argument based on divisibility?
Descartes argued that there was a big difference between the mind and the body. He believed the mind could not be divided like the body. He thought the mind seemed united to the body but not by a uniting parts to parts.
what analogy did he give to explain the divisibility between mind and body?
If a foot or arm or any other part of the body is cut off, nothing is taken from the mind.
He believed faculties such as understanding and sensory perception are not part of the mind but instead powers of it.
