Renee Descartes and the Mind-Body Problem

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at Renee Descartes' approach to the question, is mind the same thing as body and if yes, how and if no, why not? It summarizes the arguments Descartes presented in support of his views and offers opposing opinions to each of Descartes' arguments.

From the Paper:

"The discussion over the relationship between mind and body that has been intriguing philosophers for a long time is divided into two broad categories: dualism and monism. According to dualism mind and body are two separate substances. There are several types of dualist views including parallelism, epiphenomenalism, occassionalism and interactionism. John Locke and Rene Descartes are among those who laid the foundation of this idea. Whereas Locke and Descartes believed in Dualism, there were other famous philosophers and thinkers who supported monism. Monism refers to the theory that mind and body are inseparable and thus one is influenced by the other."

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