Ryle's Refute

A detailed Summary of Ryle's Refute

Ryle's Refutation of the Metaphysical Doctrine

Rene Descartes holds a dualist view that the mind and body are two totally separate entities. In response to this Gilbert Ryle has published an article showing that the argument, and its premises, of Descartes' Metaphysical Doctrine are incorrect. He does not show the premises, themselves, to be individually false, but instead shows that Descartes has simply made an error in his conceptualizations of the mind and body. In this paper I will show that Ryle's analysis of the Metaphysical Doctrine, and it faults, is correct. In addition, his arguments against the premises of the Doctrine are accurate and effective.

Ryle believes that Descartes has simply made a 'category error' in trying to explain the relationship between the mind and the body. A "category error" occurs when an individual is unable to grasp a larger concept and understand simple terminology. For example, a person may look at a closet full of clothes, yet still be unable to understand the idea of the wardrobe. He may see all the shirts and pants hanging, and all the shoes stacked up, but still be unable to see where the wardrobe is. This person has not grasped the concept that the wardrobe is not a separate, t

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5. Therefore, the mind and body can't be one thing, so they must be distinct.

1. No one thing can have incompatible, essential properties.

The argument for Descartes' Doctrine is as follows:

Some common words found in the essay are:
Descartes' Doctrine, Metaphysical Doctrine, mind body, Rene Descartes, Gilbert Ryle, category error, metaphysical doctrine, mind body separate, person closet, relationship mind body, spoken manner, exist manners, descartes simply, body separate, belong category, relationship mind,

Approximate Word count = 920
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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Ryle's Refute

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