Descartes Argument For Substance Dualism

Descartes’s argument for substance dualism stems from his famous one-liner, “I think, therefore I am.” In this statement, Descartes thinks and knows that he exists. He attributes his self, “I”, as being rooted in his mind, and he perceives his existence extended and apart from other things in his body, i.e. his body is not everything around him, but rather a biological machine extended in a certain amount of space. Descartes thinks that because a mind and body can be understood separate from each other that they can exist separate from each other, and that this idea is true because God is not a deceiver. This separation of mind and body is what Descartes focuses on in his argument for substance dualism. Using this separation of mind and …show more content…
These causal powers can be separated into two categories: active and passive. Active causal powers are powers that cause the body to be able to do something, such as punch a wall. Passive causal powers, on the other hand, cause the body to be able to have something done to it, such as being able to be punched. Without these causal powers intrinsic to the human body, Descartes believes the laws of Nature cause the body to operate as such, and this belief makes the human body become devalued. For example, Descartes believes that the body has no formal or final cause intrinsic to itself, which means that the body is just an organic machine meant to live and die. Secondly, the absence of causal powers means that the brain’s pineal gland, not the mind, (through interacting with “spirits” in the veins and a physiological union) controls bodily movements. This belief that the brain controls bodily movements is a difficulty with the Cartesian position of substance dualism because there becomes a problem with the belief of one’s free will. If the brain controls one’s movements, then he or she does not have absolute control over what he or she does. For example, if this belief were entirely true, then with regards to all murders, the perpetrator would not be morally culpable because his or her “self” (the mind) would not have done the action on purpose; the only possible charge would be involuntary manslaughter. A second difficulty with the Cartesian position on substance dualism focuses on interactionism. In this variety of substance dualism, the mind and body can interact just as in Descartes’s variety. This variety states that there is a causal closure of the physical, which means that physical events have physical causes and that, therefore, mental causes are unnecessary. Interactionist dualism relates to