Dualism and Monism

Dualism and Monism

In this essay, I will explore the philosophy of dualism. Dualism is a concept that is first put up by Descartes. He believes humans require both the mind and body in order to function, and that the mind and body are separate things. It is the idea that there are two parts to existence, physical and spiritual. The body exists in the physical and the mind in the spiritual.

Descartes stated that the mind was a ‘thinking thing’ and the body is a ‘non-thinking thing’. He basically believes that the mind was the essence of him, that which doubts, believes, hopes and thinks. He stated ‘I have a clear and distinct idea of myself as a thinking, non-extended thing, and a clear and distinct idea of body as an extended and non-thinking thing. Whatever I can conceive clearly and distinctly, God can so create.’ Basically, Descartes argues that the ‘thinking thing’ can exist apart from its extended body and therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body. Another statement from Descartes is that ‘it is impossible to simply dismiss the vast material world and emotions attached with it to simply be an illusion’. This statement basically argues that if we dismiss the idea of a vast material world, everything we see and feel would be an illusion, and that nothing is true. This statement opposed the philosophical concept of monism, where they believe the mind itself is enough to function, without any aid of the body. The statement therefore argues that despite monist’s will disagree with his view, they still interact with the materialistic world as they require their feet to walk on, wear clothes to keep themselves warm, and use their hands to make their lives easier. Doing such actions shows that they are applying dualist ideologies in their lives.

However, a monist would certainly disagree with the concept of dualism and argue back. One argument they may use is the mind-body argument. As Descartes stated that the mind and the body are two separate...