Dualism's Mistake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dualism's Mistake - Essay Example Descartes’ Dualism Mistake The problem of the relationship between the body and the soul is one of the main philosophical problems in the history of Philosophy. Philosophers, since the time of Aristotle up to the contemporary time, are dividend on how really, soul and body are related. In modern period, Rene Descartes is credited for having systematized the debate, and thus provoked a lot of interest in the debate. Descartes conception of the relationship between the body and the soul was perfectly in line with his dualistic conception of reality. In his Metaphysics, Descartes conceived reality has being composed of two substances: Thought and Extension. Descartes defined a substance as, that which can exist on its own, without depending on any other thing for its existence (cRyle, n.d). Following this dualistic conception of reality, Descartes saw human beings as being composed of two substances, i.e., the soul (thought) and the body (extension). However, Descartes understood the essence of human person not as a composite of body and soul, but rather as soul (thought only). So, according to Descartes, the body is not a part of a human nature, but it is necessary united to the souls to help the soul in perceiving external realities. But this dualistic view of mankind has received a lot of oppositions since the time of Descartes. A critical analysis of Descartes dualistic conception of human nature shows that, Descartes is grossly mistaken on this view. The main argument that clearly shows that Descartes is wrong in his dualistic conception of the nature of human person is the fact that a logical analysis of Descartes claim shows that Descartes, actually, contradicted himself. Descartes began his argument by, first, asserting what a substance is, i.e., something that is self-existent. Descartes then proceeded to argue that human being’s essence is thought since one cannot doubt their own thinking self. In supporting his claim, Descartes contended t hat while we can, actually, doubt about whether we really have bodies or not, we cannot possibly doubt whether we are doubting. And on this basis, Descartes concluded that the essence of human beings is their thinking self or simply thought. Having concluded that the essence of human being is thought, Descartes proceeded to argue that apart from his thinking self, human beings also, have an extended body. And in supporting his claim he argued that since we can clearly and distinctly conceive ourselves as having extended bodies that interact and perceive external realities, it is true, therefore, that we, indeed, have extended bodies. And to answer the question of what is the importance of our bodies to our souls; Descartes contended that our bodies aid our souls in perceiving or sensing the external, extended realities. Descartes contradicted himself on this issue, by claiming that the soul as a substance is self-existent, and then proceeding to claim that the soul needs the body in order to interact and to perceive external realities. Descartes clearly contradicted himself. If the soul as a substance is self-existent, then the soul would not need the body for any reason. This logical contradiction shows that Descartes dualistic conception of reality is wrong and cannot be sustained logically. Once you claim that the soul does not need any other thing for its existence, then to be consistent, you should argue that the body is not necessary