Cartesian Dualism Flashcards
The Mind-body problem
What is the relation between the mind and the body?
Is the mind distinct from the body or identical to it?
Properties
Features/characteristics/attributes of objects
Physical properties = physical states (size, weight, shape)
Mental properties = mental states (belief, desires)
Cartesian/Substance dualism
The mind and body are different things
They can exist without each other
They are different kinds of substance (mind = immaterial, body = physical)
(Descartes)
Substances
Material
Extended in space and time
Physical properties (mass, weight)
Body
Immaterial
In time but not space
No physical properties
Mind
Interactionism
The mind and body interact and affect each other
Mental causation
The light impinging on my retina causes a visual experience
The epistemological argument
Argument For
P1) I cannot doubt that my mind exists
P2) I can doubt that my body exists (an evil demon could be deceiving me)
C) Therefore, my mind is not identical to my body
Including Leibniz’s law (If X and Y are identical, they have the same properties):
P1) My body has the property of being such that i can doubt it existence
P2) My mind does not have the property of being such that i can doubt its existence
P3) If the mind and body do not have the same properties, they are not equal
C) Therefore, the mind is not identical to the body
Issues with the epistemological argument
Valid argument but unsound (the conclusion follows the premises but are not true)
Intentional fallacy = involves a confusion between the properties that something really has and the properties that we think something has (Clark Kent argument)
The divisibility argument
P1) My body has the property of being divisible (an arm can be cut off)
P2) My mind does not have the property of being divisible
P3) If X and Y do not have exactly the same properties, then they are not identical
C) Therefore, my mind is not identical to my body
Issues with the divisibility argument
Is the mind divisible?
Split personality, memory, strokes, etc.
Someone can lose memory while the visual capacities remain intact
The conceivability argument
Descartes
P1) If it is possible for my mind to exist without my body then the mind is not identical to my body
P2) I can conceive of my mind existing without my body existing
P3) If i can conceive of something, then it is possible
C1) Therefore it is possible for my mind to exist without my body
C2) Therefore, my mind is not identical to my body
Problem of mental causation
Argument against
Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia
P1) If cartesian dualism is true, minds are immaterial so are outside space
P2) For something to cause a physical object to move, there must be a flow of energy from X to Y
P3) Energy cannot flow from outside space to inside space
C1) Therefore, if CD is true, the mind cannot cause the body to move
P4) But the mind can cause the body to move
C2) Therefore, CD is false
Argument from causal closure of the physical
Argument against
Causal closure of the physical = every physical effect has a sufficient physical cause
P1) Every physical effect has a sufficient physical cause
P2) Mental states have physical effects
P3) The physical effects of mental states are not overdetermined by distinct causes
C1) Therefore, mental states are identical to physical states
C2) Therefore Cartesian dualism is false
Raising your arm cannot be caused by both the physical and the mental intention as there is only 1 cause so they must be the same thing
