Rene Descartes

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

• 1596 - 1650
• born in Brittany
• scholar of mathematics and humanities
• travelled widely in Europe, mainly Holland and Paris
• served in many armies
• was a catholic despite his interest in science and empiricism
• died in Sweden while tutoring Queen Christina in philosophy
• his skull is on display in the Musee de L’Homme in Paris

Question 2

The mind-body problem

Answer 2

issue of contravercy in science/philosophy for centuries

Question 3

Dualism

Answer 3

mind (or soul/spirt) and body were separate and independent, but they did interact somehow
(most believed that the direction of interaction was one way: the mind influenced the body

Question 4

Descartes viewed the body as a machine and he proposed a theory based on how the body worked, What was that theory?

Answer 4

theory of reflex action - it explained involuntary movements in the body

Question 5

Descartes proposed that the mind and the body can both interact. Where did he believe that this interaction took place?

Answer 5

the pineal gland

Question 6

Derived ideas

Answer 6

caused by external stimulation - thus products of the senses

Question 7

Innate ideas

Answer 7

not the result of external stimulation - independent of sensory experience and not due to learning

Question 8

Descartes main contributions to psychology

Answer 8

• mechanistic view of the body
• reflex action
• mind-body, dualism and the locus of the mind in the brain
• Innate ideas