Descartes writes at the beginning of what is known as "modern" philosophy, and his work defined many of the issues that philosophers have discussed since. We’ll look at a few selections from his discussions of the nature of the mind and its relation to the body.

The notes below are organized according to the selections in this assignment. They're intended primarily as a guide to the passages on which our discussion will focus.

Selections from Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)

Second Meditation

In order to find a secure foundation for his beliefs Descartes had, in the first of his Meditations, sought ways to cast into doubt as many of his beliefs as possible. (In the Sixth Meditation, he gives a summary of the methods he used; see the last paragraph of p. 15.) At the beginning of the Second Meditation, he finds something he cannot doubt and begins to explore the nature of his newfound knowledge. Our primary interest will be in the way he characterizes his mind and his contrasting characterization of bodies; but also notice the example (in col. 1 of p. 13) of men crossing the square.

Sixth Meditation

The chief burden of this last meditation is to re-establish Descartes's belief in the existence of physical objects, but we will focus on different issues. At the end of the initial summary of his unreflective beliefs and his doubts of them, we get his official argument for distinction between mind and body (the middle of col. 1 on p. 16). Later (p. 17) he describes the relation between mind and body; think about the contrast with the sailor or pilot and his ship. For Descartes, most of our knowledge rests on the knowledge that God does not deceive us, and Descartes is concerned to reconcile this with the errors we make in our responses to the senses. Although our interest in this part of the discussion lies in his further comments on the relation between mind and body, notice also his account of sensory error. Clearly, his neurophysiology is several centuries out of date (e.g., p. 19, col. 1)--but could the basic form of his account be made consistent with what you know of current views about the nervous system?

Selections from Passions of the Soul (1649)

The relation between the mind and human physiology is the main topic of the selection from this second work. You may not find Descartes's account of this very persuasive but, if not, ask yourself how someone today who thinks the mind and body are distinct things might say about their interaction.

Descartes's definition of "passions" (in sec. 27, quoted below) presupposes an interaction with the body. (The "spirits" he speaks of are "animal spirits," which he describes earlier in the work, in sec. 10, as "the most lively and finest parts of the blood" and as "extremely small bodies which move very quickly, like the jets of flame that come from a torch".) Do you think that is right--that is, do you think passions and emotions require the existence of a body?