Cartesian Dualism: the Rise and Ultimate Fall of The View

Cartesian dualism is a philosophical concept created by Rene Descartes which argues for the idea that the mind and the body are two distinct entities in a person, but that they interact in an intricate manner which leads to the proper functioning of human beings. Descartes came up with the philosophical concept after establishing that both material and immaterial worlds exist in a person, and according to Descartes, the mind constitutes the immaterial world while the body constitutes the material world, and effective interaction of the two results in a rational being. Cartesian dualism states that the mind directs the body’s actions. In fact, Descartes argues that sensation and perception involve states of the world affecting states of our sense organs, which in turn affect the brain and cause the mind to be in certain states. In this essay, I will explore the key aspects of Cartesian dualism, followed by some arguments against it. Next, I will show how Cartesian dualism aims to refute such counterarguments, and I will conclude by showing what I believe to be a fatal downfall of the view.

Arguments for Dualism Concept

Dualism is the notion that there exists an interaction between the mind, an immaterial substance, and the body, a material substance. According to Descartes there exists both immaterial and material worlds that interact effectively in nature, and as an illustration of this idea, Descartes uses human beings to explain the nature of mind and body.

Descartes was concerned with how the immaterial substances could interact with the material substances, and, more importantly, with how the substance of the body could house the mind. To resolve the problem that was created by the incompatibility of the two entities, Descartes relied on his notion of dualism. Prior to Cartesian dualism, Greek philosophers held that the mind and the body were unique and distinct entities, and therefore, they were incompatible with one another. However, through his method of systemic doubt, Descartes argued that since his mind can doubt the existence of bodies in nature, it clearly proves that there is a link between the mind and material world.

In the sixth meditation, Descartes argues that understanding and imagination stem from the sensual perception of the material world, and hence proves that there is a distinction between the mind and the body, yet also a connection between them. According to Descartes, the two components that make up human beings, that being the material body and immaterial mind, are of different nature. More specifically, while the body could be divided up via the removal of certain parts, the mind itself is indivisible. The different attributes of the mind and body make the two different entities while their concerted functions make them complementary in defining the nature of human beings. Thus, dualism explains the interaction of the mind and body while acknowledging the fact that they are different entities in human being.

In his attempts to define his identity, Descartes understands that there exists a complex interaction between the mind and body which enables him to achieve a sense reality on top of understanding his environment. This leads him to argue human beings exist as minds trying to comprehend the body, since we all carry the capacity to think and doubt our own existence. In order to ascertain his existence, Descartes came up with method of systemic doubt where whatever we could bring himself ourselves to doubt, we would doubt, until we see reason for not doubting it. By applying this method, Descartes gradually became convinced that he could only be completely certain of his existence, and that of no other thing or person.

Since Descartes was able to be certain of his own existence due to his ability to think and doubt it, Descartes discovered the philosophical concept of dualism in human nature in that the mind and body are two components that coexist in a human being. According to Cartesian dualism, the mind and the body interact at the pineal gland in the brain because it is the only gland in the brain that is not duplicate. Therefore, this is where the connection between the immaterial mind and the material body takes place.

Nagel agrees with Descartes, and argues that, “the body is extended matter: the soul is unextended spirit. When, however, the extended is acted upon by the unextended, some definite point of interaction is required, and it is to be found in the pineal gland”. Furthermore, Descartes believes that there is a sort of mechanistic interaction between the mind and the body, where the mind brings about the actual physical movement of the body and is what ultimately dictates the actions that human beings perform.

The final claim I will mention of proponents of Cartesian dualism is that without the mind, or with an ineffective interaction between the mind and body, we end up with unsystematic and disorganized actions. This, they believe, proves that the mechanistic interaction between the mind and the body is critical in defining human nature. Out of all the creatures in the universe, human beings are dualistic creatures because we possess the ability to think and act accordingly, unlike animals which act based on their instincts and reflexes. Therefore, proponents of dualism claim that the dualistic nature of human beings enables us to coordinate our mind and actions appropriately.

Arguments Against Dualism

While Cartesian dualism supports the idea that the mind and the body are different entities, it seems unreasonable to believe that one can exist without the other. The mind and the body are critical and complementary components that make up human beings and therefore, it is quite impossible to separate the two. It makes no difference whether one believes that the mind is a substance or just a bundle of properties. The challenge of explaining the nature of the unity of the immaterial mind and the body still remains because it is practically impossible to combine or separate material substances and immaterial substances in nature.

Separation or combination of material and immaterial substances is quite puzzling due to the fact that they appear to be incompatible with one another. If the mind and the body are separate and independent entities, why would or should they interact in human beings? It would make more sense for them to have separate and distinct entities that don’t need to interact with the other in order for them to sustain their existence. However, in Cartesian dualism the mind exists because of the body and the body exists because of the mind.

Another critique of Cartesian dualism is that the interaction of the mind and body is not testable in any way, whether it be in a laboratory or not. While this is simply one criticism of Cartesian dualism, it has led to the development of other theories concerning the interaction between the mind and the brain, such as scientific behaviorism. Moreover, the assumption that the mind and the body interact at the pineal gland could be refuted as a mere coincidence. The reason being is the Descartes claimed this was the point of interaction since the pineal gland is not duplicated, but there are other unduplicated organs in the body or brain. Due to the fact that the nature of the mind is very complex and mysterious for one to comprehend, it is incomprehensible for immaterial and material substance to interact at pineal gland just because it does not have a duplicate in the body. So, one of the main problems of dualism lies in the assumption that the immaterial mind and material body interact in the pineal gland. The assumption does not make scientific sense because no one can test immaterial substances in the laboratory as they are incompatible with material substances that human beings can perceive. Based on this critique, critics then turn the challenge of proving dualism back to its supporters, claiming that for causal relationships between the mind and the body to exist, dualists should demonstrate empirical and convincing experiment that ascertains the relationship.

One of the proponents of this view against dualism is Gilbert Ryle, who believes that if mental states were internal as dualism suggests, we would never be able to verify them or corroborate them in any way, since they not be observable in any scenario. This, he believes, is reason enough to refute the notion of dualism and that the immaterial mind and the material body are able to interact with one another. If we accepted this claim of dualism, we would have to accept theories built on unverifiable, unobservable phenomenon, and that would lead to a weak scientific field, according to Ryle.

Dualism’s Response and Downfall

An analysis of arguments supporting and opposing dualism shows that Descartes wins, as he argues that thoughts and doubts concerning certain things in nature are sure proof of their existence. Since critics of dualism doubt the existence of an immaterial mind, it seems to follow that they doubt reality and the existence of immaterial substances. According to Cartesian dualism, human beings are dualistic creatures with the ability to think and act according to their thoughts, hence reaffirming their rational capacity. The critics of Cartesian dualism do have sufficient evidence to disapprove the claim of Cartesian dualists that there exists an effective interaction between the mind and the body, specifically at the pineal gland, since there is no way to corroborate such an idea. However, Descartes’ argument that anything doubted is real because it elicits doubts in the first place stands. Moreover, anyone who doubts Cartesian dualism could be said to doubt reality.

While Cartesian dualism may seem to have come up with a valid response to counterarguments against it, such as the one mentioned above that the source of interaction between the mind and body is in the pineal gland, it seems to me that Cartesian dualism is heavily flawed for another reason, a reason that is much more difficult to overcome. It seems that when Descartes first crafted his belief of dualism, he built it up in a way that would make it almost impossible to disprove. According to him, the main reason we can be certain that the mind and the body are separate entities is because we can doubt altogether that we have a body, but we cannot logically doubt that we have a mind, for we are beings capable of thinking, and thinking is a trait that the mind is said to be responsible for.

However, it seems that if anyone tries to refute the idea that the mind and body are not separate, a Cartesian dualist could simply reply by stating that it’s possible to doubt the reality of the counterclaim, and hence it cannot be valid, just as we can doubt the existence of our bodies, so they must be separate from the mind. In my opinion though, this seems to be too easy of an argument to save Cartesian dualism. By stating that something could be doubted does not necessarily mean anything. For example, human beings used to doubt that we evolved from other species, or even from single celled bacteria. Darwin was the first to disprove such a doubt, and since then, tremendous research has emerged showing that we most likely did evolve in such a way. Similarly, it could be said that simply because we can doubt that we have a body does not mean that in the future we will continue to have this doubt. No one truly knows what new research and technology will be available in the future, and it may very well disprove the basic foundation of Cartesian dualism. If we are no longer able to doubt that we have a body, just as we are, according to Descartes, unable to doubt that we have a mind, it seems that there would then no longer be any need for the mind and the body to be two distinct entities. For this reason, as well as the counterarguments mentioned before, I believe Cartesian dualism ultimately collapses as a view.

Works Cited

• Nagel, Thomas. “Mind and Body Cartesian Dualism.” Philosophy, 2001. 1-11.
• Robinson, Howard, 'Dualism', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
• Ryle, Gilbert. “Descartes’ Myth.” The Concept of Mind. Hutchinson & Co, 1949.