• In the first selection (pp. 25-27), Descartes recalls things he has discussed earlier in the book and then (in the last paragraph of p. 27) offers his central argument for difference between mind and body. You should try to formulate the argument in your own words, think whether you agree with it, and (whether or not you agree with it) think how someone might try to respond.

• Because Descartes views the mind and body as fundamentally different substances, it is not obvious that the mind could even know of the body’s existence, and the second selection (pp. 28-30) is part of his argument that it does. In the part of the argument that appears here, he is considering a subsidiary problem, which he poses at its beginning. He then (in his discussion of senses of ‘nature’) dismisses what might seem like a solution. His presentation (on pp. 29-30) of what he sees as the real solution leads him to describe in some detail the relation between the mind and body. As with the first selection, you should try to put what he argues in your own words and think what might be said for or against it.