2.3 Problem 2
Descartes’s Myth
Official Doctrine
With exception to idiots and infants, every human being has both a body and a
mind
Body and mind are together, but after death of the body, mind can continue to
exist and function
Human Body
o In time and space
o Subject to mechanical laws which govern all bodies in space
o Bodily processes and state can be seen by external observers
o Public
o In the physical world
o Events and things are external (metaphorically)
Human Mind
o In time but not in space
o Workings not seen by external observers
o Private
o In the mental world
o Events and things are internal (metaphorically)
Person lives through (history 1) what happens in and to their body (history 2)
what happens in and to their mind
Person has direct awareness of at least some episodes of private history
o Consciousness, self-consciousness and introspection= times of direct
knowledge of present states and operations of his mind
Assumed there are 2 different kinds of existence:
1. Physical existence
Composed of matter or a function of matter
2. Mental existence
Composed of consciousness or a function of consciousness
o Like heads and tails of a coin: some existing is physical, other existing is
mental
Opposites between mind and matter
o Material objects are situated in common field: one happens to body in one
part mechanically connected with what happens to other bodies in other
parts
o Mental happening occurs in insulated fields (minds): no direct connection
between what happens in one mind and what happens in another
Can only make a difference to another mind through medium of
public physical world
Mental states
Conscious states and processes
Persons thinking, feelings, perceptions, memories, and imagination are betrayed
to the owner
People operate based on impulses: some thoughts differ from thoughts one
acknowledges, some actions one believes they will perform actually aren’t
performed
In normal circumstances, person must be directly and authentically seized of
present state and workings of his own mind
Person is able to exercise introspection from time to time
o Self-observation is immune from illusion, confusion or doubt
Self-perceptions can be mistaken or confused: consciousness and
introspection cannot
Absolute solitude is the ineluctable destiny of the soul: only our bodies can meet
Criticism
False in principle: represents facts of mental life as if they belonged to one
category when they actually belong to another: categorical mistake
, The mind itself is spectral machine: the body is an engine- they can’t be taken to
pieces
As minds belong to same category as bodies and bodies are governed by
mechanical laws, theorists would follow minds must be governed by rigid non-
mechanical laws
o Physical world is deterministic so mental world must be too, they can’t
resist modifications= responsibility, choice, merit, demerit all inapplicable
concepts unless laws become less rigid
Explained that in principle one person could never recognise the difference
between the rational and irrational utterances from other human bodies
o External observers would never know how overt behaviour of others is
correlated with mental powers and processes
Characterisations of persons and performances as intelligent,
prudent, etc. could not be made
Mistaken logic: instead of asking what criteria intelligent behaviour is
distinguished from non-intelligent behaviour, he asked what principle will tell the
difference
Suggesting mind and matter are polar opposites suggests they are both the same
logical type
Dualism
Dualism- the mind and the body are two separate and very different things
(Antinaturalism)
1. Nonphysical- mind or soul, not part of nature
2. Physical- body
Mind is not part of nature,
Mind and body are distinct things that can exist independently of other things=
substance- an individual thing that can exist by itself independently of other
substances
Substance dualism- the view that mind and body are distinct in the sense that
they can exist independently of each other or other substances
Interactionist substance dualism- the view that these two substances or
things exist and can interact causally
Prove mind and body are distinct via thought experiment (imagine waking up
and everything seems normal except can’t see your hand grabbing a cup, or your
feet, or the lump caused by your body under duvet)
o Freedom from contradiction is test of possibility: if no contradiction, then
it’s possible (eg. waking up within a body isn’t contradictory)
Critic
How can mind and body interact if one is physical & spatial, and the other is non-
physical and non-spatial?
Lowe
New picture of psychological dualist interactionism
Causal chains of events is structure where chains have no end
Mental events cannot interact with tips to initiate the causal action
as there are no tips
Descartes’s Myth
Official Doctrine
With exception to idiots and infants, every human being has both a body and a
mind
Body and mind are together, but after death of the body, mind can continue to
exist and function
Human Body
o In time and space
o Subject to mechanical laws which govern all bodies in space
o Bodily processes and state can be seen by external observers
o Public
o In the physical world
o Events and things are external (metaphorically)
Human Mind
o In time but not in space
o Workings not seen by external observers
o Private
o In the mental world
o Events and things are internal (metaphorically)
Person lives through (history 1) what happens in and to their body (history 2)
what happens in and to their mind
Person has direct awareness of at least some episodes of private history
o Consciousness, self-consciousness and introspection= times of direct
knowledge of present states and operations of his mind
Assumed there are 2 different kinds of existence:
1. Physical existence
Composed of matter or a function of matter
2. Mental existence
Composed of consciousness or a function of consciousness
o Like heads and tails of a coin: some existing is physical, other existing is
mental
Opposites between mind and matter
o Material objects are situated in common field: one happens to body in one
part mechanically connected with what happens to other bodies in other
parts
o Mental happening occurs in insulated fields (minds): no direct connection
between what happens in one mind and what happens in another
Can only make a difference to another mind through medium of
public physical world
Mental states
Conscious states and processes
Persons thinking, feelings, perceptions, memories, and imagination are betrayed
to the owner
People operate based on impulses: some thoughts differ from thoughts one
acknowledges, some actions one believes they will perform actually aren’t
performed
In normal circumstances, person must be directly and authentically seized of
present state and workings of his own mind
Person is able to exercise introspection from time to time
o Self-observation is immune from illusion, confusion or doubt
Self-perceptions can be mistaken or confused: consciousness and
introspection cannot
Absolute solitude is the ineluctable destiny of the soul: only our bodies can meet
Criticism
False in principle: represents facts of mental life as if they belonged to one
category when they actually belong to another: categorical mistake
, The mind itself is spectral machine: the body is an engine- they can’t be taken to
pieces
As minds belong to same category as bodies and bodies are governed by
mechanical laws, theorists would follow minds must be governed by rigid non-
mechanical laws
o Physical world is deterministic so mental world must be too, they can’t
resist modifications= responsibility, choice, merit, demerit all inapplicable
concepts unless laws become less rigid
Explained that in principle one person could never recognise the difference
between the rational and irrational utterances from other human bodies
o External observers would never know how overt behaviour of others is
correlated with mental powers and processes
Characterisations of persons and performances as intelligent,
prudent, etc. could not be made
Mistaken logic: instead of asking what criteria intelligent behaviour is
distinguished from non-intelligent behaviour, he asked what principle will tell the
difference
Suggesting mind and matter are polar opposites suggests they are both the same
logical type
Dualism
Dualism- the mind and the body are two separate and very different things
(Antinaturalism)
1. Nonphysical- mind or soul, not part of nature
2. Physical- body
Mind is not part of nature,
Mind and body are distinct things that can exist independently of other things=
substance- an individual thing that can exist by itself independently of other
substances
Substance dualism- the view that mind and body are distinct in the sense that
they can exist independently of each other or other substances
Interactionist substance dualism- the view that these two substances or
things exist and can interact causally
Prove mind and body are distinct via thought experiment (imagine waking up
and everything seems normal except can’t see your hand grabbing a cup, or your
feet, or the lump caused by your body under duvet)
o Freedom from contradiction is test of possibility: if no contradiction, then
it’s possible (eg. waking up within a body isn’t contradictory)
Critic
How can mind and body interact if one is physical & spatial, and the other is non-
physical and non-spatial?
Lowe
New picture of psychological dualist interactionism
Causal chains of events is structure where chains have no end
Mental events cannot interact with tips to initiate the causal action
as there are no tips
