René Magritte

In Discourse on Method and Related Writings author René Descartes explains how he developed his unique and, especially for his time, unconventional reasoning in an autobiographical style. The story of his intellectual development is an unconventional one, and he describes how his revolutionary method had transformed him into the distinguished and ever prevalent philosopher that we know him to be today. It is apparent that Descartes was the black sheep of his class, using other methods and…

3) While Cartesian dualism says that there are two different mental and physical entities that make up the mind, functionalism argues that the brain is an independent entity. Functionalism says that the brain – a singular entity – contains two kinds of properties, mental and physical. Thus, it is a form of dualism in the sense that there are two different things in play, yet only one physical entity which these properties reside in. It solves the causal relation problem that Cartesian 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…

The definition of caveman logic according the Caveman Logic by Hank Davis is a reference of a more superstitious and primitive part of our mentality (Davis, 2009 p.12). Therefore, I want to talk about my own case of caveman logic mentality that happened back in 2012 in Boston on April 15. In addition, I also want to talk about the cognitive error that occurred. Therefore, I can analyze them in the following essay. On that day two bombs went off around the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I…

I will analyze Descartes’ Indivisibility Argument for Mind/Body Dualism. Descartes’ argument is deductively valid and deductively sound since all premises support the conclusion therefor all of the premises are true. I validate Descartes’ Indivisibility Argument for Mind/Body Dualism by using each premise in the argument and how each premise is a strong back bone why the conclusion is true. Also having awareness of the other side of the argument and using strong counter arguments to build up an…

The Mind-Body Problem, and Human Understanding Rene Descartes (1998) believed that the mind and body were two separate things, which could exist without each other, a type of dualism known as interactionism (Kardas, 2014, pg. 174). His theory, however, came to be known as the mind-body problem, due to the lack of any clear, concrete understanding of his ideas (Kardas, 2014, pg. 174). In contrast, John Locke’s (1998) theories showed that the mind used the body to obtain sensory information,…

Reflections on Photography Roland Barthes (1915-80) was a French theorist and philosopher. Camera Lucida Reflections on Photography was his last book published in 1979. This book mainly circulates around the theme of understanding desire and nature of photography. He described that what makes it distinguished it from other arts? What are its benefits and liabilities? He did not focused on the formal aspects (composition) or social uses of the photograph but in actual his intent is on ontological…

Personal identity refers to certain properties that make a person feel a special sense of attachment or ownership. Both philosophers John Locke and Rene Descartes had contrasting views about one’s working mind. Descartes believes that the mind cannot be identical to the body whereas Locke emphasizes that our bodies and mind are the same thing. Locke’s ideas on personal identity are primarily focused on memory, whereas Descartes is focused on the “thinking mind.” The thinking mind is our way of…

Rene Descartes proposes a variant of substance dualism that maintains the equal and distinct existence of physical and mental substances. Descartes (1641) discusses that bodies are physical substances because they extend outward and occupy spatial regions while the human mind is a mental substance because it cannot extend through space (P.165). Descartes also notes fundamental differences on their activities; the human body is passive because it cannot think while the mind can handle complex…

Cavendish addresses the issue of knowledge and dualism in this selection from her work. In this passage she is responding to Descartes dualism and the divide between animal and human consciousness. Descartes is a very strong dualist who believes in human exceptionalism, where humans are the only species who can use the mind, proposing a fundamental difference between the mind and matter. Descartes believes that animals are matter and therefore mechanical beings. This idea of human exceptionalism…