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Pioneering Philosophers of Mind: Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz - René Descartes and the Mind-Body Distinction

9 important questions on Pioneering Philosophers of Mind: Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz - René Descartes and the Mind-Body Distinction

What did Descartes planned to use systematic doubt for?

Descartes believed that after discovering a set of clear, distinct, and unquestionably real entities he could use them as the starting points in a geometry-like mode of reasoning in many different fields of knowledge. He now planned to use systematic doubt to arrive at foundational concepts that, like geometrical axioms, would be the starting points for deductive reasoning in all sorts of nonmathematical fields.

What are the "modern" theories of Descartes and Galileo (simple natures and primary/secondary qualities) related to?

They represented a blending of the ancient atomic theory of indivisible atoms, or particles, in motion and the Platonic distinction between appearances and the ideal forms that underlie them.

In what way does Descartes's approach to physics resemble Democritus's?

In that it accounted for the material world on the basis of extended particles in motion, but differed from it by denying that they move about in a void or vacuum. Descartes saw the entire universe as completely filled with three different kinds of material particles in different kinds of motion. When one particle moves, he argued, it leaves no empty space behind because that space is instantaneously refilled, the same way a moving fish’s space is refilled with water as it swims.
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Which three kinds of particles is the universe filled with according to Descartes?

Descartes hypothesized three kinds of particles corresponding to the classical elements of fire, air, and earth.

How does Descartes explain light and vision with air particles?

Descartes proposed that between any two points there exists a perfectly straight column of air particles that form the material basis of light rays. When one looks at an object, a straight column of air particles extends directly between it and the eye and functions. Similarly with vision, vibrations from the particles in the looked-at object are transmitted along the column of air particles extending between it and the eye. The eye thus receives direct vibratory impressions of the looked-at object, which in turn can set off mechanistic responses in the physical structures of the eye.

What is the structure of the nerves and brain according to Descartes?

He noted that the brain contained cavities, or ventricles, filled with a clear yellowish liquid he called animal spirits (today known as cerebrospinal fluid). In addition, on the basis of observations conducted without the benefit of a microscope, he convinced himself (falsely, we now know) that the long nerves were hollow, and contained within themselves extremely fine fibers or filaments.

How did Descartes come up with the famous phrase "Cogito ergo sum" ("I think therefore I am")?

Although he could doubt the reality of his senses, or even the material existence of his body and the physical world, he could not doubt the subjective reality of his own doubting mind. He could not doubt that he was doubting, and so, paradoxically, the act of doubting provided Descartes with evidence of the certainty he desired. He summarized his conclusion with the simple statement “I think, therefore I am,” whose Latin version—Cogito ergo sum has become one of the most famous catchphrases in the history of philosophy.

Who do those innate ideas of Descartes relate to?

His conception of an independent and self-aware rational mind showed clear echoes of Avicenna’s floating man and Plato’s notion of a psyche equipped with innate ideal forms.

How does Descartes sees (the function of) the body and the mind with his interactive dualism?

He emphasized the extent to which important phenomena are the result of neither body nor mind acting alone, but rather of the many possible kinds of interactions between the two. Sometimes the two agencies work together harmoniously, as when rational thought guides the body in meeting its survival needs, or when certain bodily actions help promote rational thinking. But other times the two conflict with each other, as when emotions overcome rational restraint, or conscious thoughts and doubts impede the direct satisfaction of bodily needs. For this reason, Descartes’s position is commonly referred to as an interactive dualism.

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Pioneers of Psychology

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