Dualistic Interactionism
"I possess a distinct idea of body, inasmuch as it is only an extended and unthinking thing, it is certain that this (my soul by which I am what I am), is entirely and absolutely distinct from my body, and can exist without it." (Descartes pg.177) Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many philosophers who have attacked the thought and ideas that refer to the human soul and body, in an attempt to produce a theory that truly explains how the soul and body exist and interact. Although many have tried, few have succeeded. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes developed a theory about the soul, body and mind which describes the nature of each and how the interaction between them occurs. This argument is known as dualistic interactionism. The question is, "Is Descartes' argument for dualistic interactionism sound?" Before I attempt to answer this question, I would like to describe Descartes' argument for dualistic interaction-ism. Descartes held that the brain (along with the rest of the body) is purely mechanistic in its principle of operation. This is true when the body is considered without soul, as he proposed was always the case in the animal world where soul is lacking. Thus animals are pure automatons
"I notice that the nature of the body is such that none of its parts can be moved by another part a little way off which cannot also be moved in the same way by each one of the parts which are in between the two." (Descartes 180) Here Descartes describes the nature of the body in response to pain and other sensations. When you injure your foot, for example, you immediately feel pain in your foot, and as long as you didn't get injured anywhere else, you only feel pain in your foot. However, the reason you feel the pain in your foot is because your soul sends a message from the brain, where the body and soul interact, all the way down to your foot. The message passes through your entire body, but you only feel pain in your foot because the rest of the body remains unaffected.So Descartes simply states that there is a dualism of mind and body, and their interaction is clearly real. The brain is the major focal point for the mind or consciousness of the soul, however mind or consciousness is distributed throughout the entire body. So we now arrive at the question, "Is Descartes' argument for dualistic interaction sound?" In my opinion, I think that his argument is totally sound. If you really think about it, it makes sense. Not many people have ever came up with a logical explanation as to how the mind and body operate together. His theory of interactionism is his form of dualism. One extended and one unextended, they nevertheless interact, which occurs in the brain. The theory cannot be disproved as long as there are mental phenomena whose neural correlates remain unknown. "For knowing that all my senses more frequently indicate
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Approximate Word count = 1108
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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