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concept of mind/body dualism & of his proof for existence of God.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
concept of mind/body dualism & of his proof for existence of God.
Paper Introduction:
Two of the most important contributions made by Rene Descartes to the field of philosophy are his concept of mind/body dualism and his proof for the existence of God. Descartes was born in 1596 in the town of La Haye in France. He began attending a Jesuit college at the age of ten, where he quickly excelled in mathematics. In 1629, at the age of thirty-three, Descartes moved to the Netherlands. There, he wrote his most important philosophical works, including Discourse on Method (1637), Meditations on the First Philosophy (1641), and Principles of Philosophy (1644). In 1649, he was invited to Sweden in order to be the teacher of that nation's Queen Christina. However, his health began to decline due to both Sweden's cold weather and the early hours of his teaching post (Sutcliffe 11). As a result, he died suddenly in 1650, at the
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On the otherhand, the things of the body are those which have "extensions" in thematerial world (Cottingham 84). [and] God, being absolute perfection, must necessarilyexist since existence is one of the perfections" (Sutcliffe 2 ). According tohis definition, the things of the mind are those which do not take up spacebut are rather found in the ethereal world of consciousness. This raises the question of how the mind andbody can interact if they are such opposites of one another.Unfortunately, Descartes himself was not able to successfully answer thisquestion, and no subsequent philosopher since his time has been able to doso either. In thisregard, one may answer Descartes' claims by saying, "I need to trust myintellect in order to prove God's existence, yet without prior knowledge ofGod's existence I have in principle no reason to trust my intellect"(Cottingham 66). In Descartes' view, the idea of a perfectGod in his own mind was as much a certainty as his own self-consciousnessand his own thinking abilities. Forexample, Descartes felt that mathematical truths, such as "one plus oneequals two," are known intuitively. Inparticular, Descartes has been criticized for claiming that people cantrust their intuition because God gave it to them in the first place. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988.Flew, Anthony. Nevertheless, it is obvious that these two opposing entitiesinteract with one another in everyday life. In order for a person to simply know certain things to be true,it is necessary that there be an infinite, all-knowing God to bestow thisfeeling of certainty. In this way, Descartes created amind/body dualism in which all things of the universe are divided betweenthe opposing forces of mind (or soul) and body (or matter). "Introduction." Descartes: Discourse on Method and the Meditations. In 1649,he was invited to Sweden in order to be the teacher of that nation's QueenChristina. There, he wrote his most importantphilosophical works, including Discourse on Method (1637), Meditations onthe First Philosophy (1641), and Principles of Philosophy (1644). In an effort to answer the criticisms of his theory, Descartesarrived at the conclusion that the place where the mind and body interactis within the pineal gland in the brain. It is obvious that these two contrasting arguments canceleach other out, thereby creating what is today known as the "CartesianCircle" in philosophy. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982: 7-23.----------------------- 8 However, this argument sets up a viciouscycle in which the intuition is used to prove that God exists, and yet Godis supposed to have provided the intuition in the first place. In Meditations on the FirstPhilosophy, Descartes systematically doubted everything in the world in aneffort to arrive at the one thing he could not doubt. In Descartes' words: "If I derived my existence from myself,then I should neither doubt nor want, nor lack anything at all; for Ishould have given myself all the perfections of which I have any idea, andthus I should myself be God" (95). . From thisperspective, the intuitive certainty that God exists is all the proof thatis needed. Descartes furtherproved his point by claiming that humankind has an intuitive knowledge ofperfection and that, therefore, if humankind had created itself without thehelp of a perfect God, it surely would have created itself in the image ofperfection. Thus, in his Third Meditation, Descartes wrote: "It istrue that I have the idea of substance in me in virtue of the fact that Iam a substance; but this would not account for my having the idea of aninfinite substance, when I am finite, unless this idea proceeded from somesubstance which really was infinite" (94). However, it is evident that"finding a location for the strange psychophysical transactions that hissystem requires does not explain how they are possible in the first place"(Flew 92). Eds. Thus, the Cartesian method ofdiscovering truth involves trying to eliminate all thoughts and ideas whichcan be doubted and thereby arriving at that which cannot be doubted, orwhich is known with intuitive certainty. Martin's, 1984.Sutcliffe, F. Another important aspect of Descartes' philosophy is found in hisproof for the existence of God. Nevertheless, his ideas were veryimportant in establishing a new frame of mind for modern times. However,Descartes also believed that there are certain truths which can be knownintuitively, or through "the use of the pure light of the mind as opposedto the evidence of the sense or of the imagination" (Sutcliffe 16). The Cartesianmethod is based on the idea that reason and mathematical logic can be usedto help a person discover the truth about natural processes. He began attending a Jesuit college at the age of ten, where hequickly excelled in mathematics. Thus, like a mathematicalformula, which also expresses perfection, God must be considered acertainty. Just as Descartes' mind/body arguments led to problems which are yetunsolved in the philosophical community, so too have his proofs for theexistence of God created controversies which linger to the present day. Thus, because "he knows himself onlyas a thinking being, he is therefore assured that the soul and the body areentirely distinct" (Sutcliffe 19). The concept of "extensions" relates to thefact that material bodies take up space in terms of height, length andwidth. Despite the problems inherent in Descartes' views on body, mind, andGod, it cannot be denied that his ideas provided an important step in theadvancement of philosophy in his own time. Furthermore, Descartes believed that the idea of a perfectbeing could not exist unless it had been planted in the mind of imperfectman by the perfect being itself. In 1629, at the age of thirty-three,Descartes moved to the Netherlands. In other words, he believedthat everything can be considered as belonging to either "mind" or "body." Descartes' division of mind and body led to what is now known as the"mind/body problem" in philosophy, a problem which is yet to be adequatelysolved. Works CitedCottingham, John. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. Descartes' approach to philosophy is often called the "Cartesianmethod" because the Latinized form of his name is Cartesius. E. However, this not being the case,Cartesian logic implies that a perfect God must have been responsible forthe creation of imperfect man which yet has the concept of perfectionwithin its mind. Specifically, the problem is concerned with the way in which mindand body interact. Two of the most important contributions made by Rene Descartes to thefield of philosophy are his concept of mind/body dualism and his proof forthe existence of God. In Descartes' view, everything that exists in the universe can bedefined as being either spatial or nonspatial. New York: St. It is for this reason that the philosophy ofDescartes continues to be an important topic for study in the present day. Descartes was not able toprovide proof for the interaction between mind and body, nor was he able toactually prove the existence of God. This discovery led in turn to a division between those things whichinvolve thinking and those things which are part of the material world.According to Descartes, not only the process of thinking but also the"soul" are found in the immaterial world of consciousness where they can beknown with intuitive certainty. As amathematician, Descartes was aware of the growing importance of scientificthought in his own time. Once Descartes arrived at the fact thathis existence was grounded in his own consciousness of himself, it becameapparent that the things of the mind are unique and separate from thosewhich pertain to the body or matter. Selected Philosophical Writings. In this way, hefound that the one thing he could not doubt was the existence of histhinking processes. Descartes believed that existence itself is perfection and thatthere must therefore be a perfect being which created it. The first proof is based on the argument that God is aninfinite, immortal being, and that no finite, mortal man would be able toeven conceive of such a being unless the being itself provided the idea inthe first place. Descartes was born in 1596 in the town of La Haye inFrance. According to this argument, God is seen as a perfect being,and perfection is seen as implying existence. Descartes' second proof for the existence of God is based on the"ontological argument" which was originally developed by medievalphilosophers. In Descartes' view, God is the one thingin the universe which transcends the mind/body duality. This argument also helps toexplain Descartes' belief that certain knowledge possesses intuitivecertainty. The problems that he posed have not yet beensolved by philosophers; however, his efforts helped pave the way toward anew way of thinking about things which is still vital today. A Dictionary of Philosophy. Thispoint of view is based on the argument that God is a perfect being and thathe can therefore be trusted. 2nd ed. However, his health began to decline due to both Sweden's coldweather and the early hours of his teaching post (Sutcliffe 11). In actuality,Descartes' Meditations on the First Philosophy provides two proofs for theexistence of God. As aresult, he died suddenly in 165 , at the age of fifty-four. Thus, common experience tellsus that a mental thought or desire can lead to a physical action, and thata physical action (such as a pin prick) can lead to a mental reaction (suchas pain) (Cottingham 119). Descartes was able to doubt the existence of allmaterial or corporeal substances; however, he could not deny the existenceof his thought patterns, and for him this was proof of his own existence.The Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum ("I think, therefore I am"), eloquentlyexpresses the way in which Descartes' "systematic doubt led him to concludethat the sole irrefragable certainty must be his own immediateconsciousness as an incorporeal substance" (Flew 233). . Descartes felt that, because God isperfect, He is not able to deceive men about His existence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.Descartes, Rene. Descartes. Thissecond proof is related to the first in that it requires a certain amountof intuition in order to be accepted. According to Descartes, mind and body are twocompletely separate things, with one existing in space and the other beingimmaterial. Thus, it canbe seen that "however much the Cartesian dualism of mind and matter hadbedeviled philosophy, it opened the doors to the development of modernscience" (Sutcliffe 21). Thus, Descartes, recognizing that he didnot invent the concept of God himself, argued that the idea "is innate inme, just as the idea of myself is innate in me" (97). In this regard,it is argued that "absolute perfection is the sum total of all possibleperfections .
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