The Concept of Dualism According to Descartes - Essay Example

Descartes’ Dualism The concept of dualism is a fairly extensive one and spans many philosophies and ideas derived from many systems and religions. Essentially, dualism is based on the idea of the existence of two principal factors that could have been the cause of the world and the myriad forms of life and matter that exist in the universe. Essentially, this means that the concept of dualism accepts and reinforces the existence of a creator, or the cause, that would have created other worldly objects. Hence, the concepts of yin and yan according to the Chinese philosophy and the existence of God and Satan in the western philosophy are all derivations of dualism. It must be noted that dualist principles attribute almost equal powers to the opposing forces, whose balance is critical for the existence of the world. Even man, when considered as a microcosm can be considered under the principles of Dualism. Often philosophers have propounded theories that have maintained that man is a unique self, who is governed by a higher self. Descartes also proposed the concept of dualism in his philosophy. He has explained his concept of dualism in detail so that it makes sense to his readers who may be inclined to approach philosophy with a critical and analytical mind. Descartes acknowledges the existence of a spiritual reality, which he calls God, that exists beyond the plane of the human mind and intelligence. He also stresses that the mind, body, and intelligence and entities that are distinct from the supreme reality, which is the cause of the universe. Hence, he says that God and the human mind are different entities and that the entity called God is the causative reason for the mind, which is again controlled by the entity called God. Descartes developed his idea of dualism in similar lines to how Aristotle developed his views on philosophy. Descartes questioned his very senses and existence and tried to derive solutions from the doubts that arose in his mind. This sequence of questioning and answering helped him to derive his philosophy, which was developed on the basis of sequential negation and analysis. Descartes proceeds in this manner to derive the logic that his mind and body are two different substances. He finds that it is possible for him to doubt the existence of his body, without doubting his own existence. Hence, he must be a mind distinct from a body. Expanding on the existence of the body and the substances that make it up, he argues that each substance is similar to his body. They extend into space, are divisible, and obey the laws of physical science. On the contrary, the mind is indivisible and does not obey the laws of physical science. Further, he believes that he knows his mind from ‘within’, which according to him, establishes the fact that the existence of his mind is more certain than the existence of his body. He believed that the body is subject to destruction because they are mere physical entity, while on the other hand, the mind is subtle and beyond the constraints of nature and its limitations. Perhaps the most important characteristic of the philosopher in Descartes is the fact that he had the capacity as well as the inclination to pay respect to modern science as a complimentary set of knowledge to Philosophy. He did not consider philosophy as an esoteric stream of thought that was distinct from the modern sciences. Many of his predecessors and contemporaries on the other hand, had an inclination to reject modern sciences as too limiting and rigid with their set of theorems and deductions. Perhaps it is his early scholarship that enabled him to understand or enquire philosophy with a scientific approach. Descartes was certain that modern truths have to be used to verify the profound but often arbitrary arguments of classical philosophy. Perhaps it was Descartes who initiated the need for philosophy to be based on tangible proofs, for it to be accepted by people. The unquestioned authority of the philosopher while explaining philosophical paradigms was not acceptable to him. This complete adherence to modern scientific thinking and the fact that he unlike many other philosophers, appreciated criticism is amply demonstrated by the fact that he has attached a critique of his work as an appendix in the Meditations. In the Meditations, Descartes displays his ability to accept scientific arguments to explain philosophic concepts [Smith, 2003]. The Meditations is popular for both its content as well as the new method of analysis that was used by Descartes. Even though the method of scientific enquiry has been perfected in the Meditations, it had been used by Descartes in his previous works as well. Descartes was famous for his critical analysis of a theory or concept. He abhorred the absolute domination of the philosophers whom he believed would propose a concept without either taking pains to explain it in the light of reasoning, or had not done so themselves. He proposed a new way of thinking in which anything that did not seem possible was immediately rejected. The gist of his approach was that any concept that did not satisfy the seeker completely should be discarded. This means that philosophical concepts must not be accepted just because a well known philosopher proposed it. The concept had to be analyzed in the light of reasoning since concepts need not be the same for all people. Hence, what is true for one person may not be true for another. This kind of analysis, if adhered to, had the capacity to initiate critical thinking in the reader or the seeker. Any idea that could not be accepted within the limits of one person had to be discarded by that person. Only then would man make an attempt to grow emotionally and philosophically so that he can imbibe ideas after critically evaluating them. Most of the philosophies were being followed slavishly by people just because it came from the mouth of an acclaimed philosopher. ‘Pure rationalism’, an argument put forward by Rene Descartes starts from an indisputable position and develops a set of beliefs based on this position. This was the idea behind, “Cogito Ergo Sum” – I think, therefore I exist. (René Descartes, 1901) "Descartes explains that he had learned a variety of methodological approaches in a variety of disciplines. They all had limits, though. Syllogistic logic, he believes, only communicates what we already know. Geometry and algebra are either too abstract in nature for practical application, or too restricted to the shapes of bodies. However, he believed that a more condensed and universal list of methodological rules was better than a lengthy and varied list." [[Burnham and Fieser, 2001] The main approach that was used by Descartes to solve questions related to philosophy were, to probe and find answers to questions and not to allow the same doubts to come back in the further course of analysis. The first step involves the process of negating age old values that have no scientific or cognitive support so that the issue is resolved properly without any ambiguity and arbitrary reasoning. The process of arriving at a solution without prejudice to existing or established ideas is thus fundamental to Descartes. The second step is to prevent the doubts from attacking the mind again. This requires strong arguments, which can conclusively negate the doubts of the seeker. In the Meditation, Descartes uses a series of questions and answers similar to the Socratic Method, and finally proves that knowledge exists in people. Descartes refers to this style of enquiry using pertinent questions without the overwhelming influence of fear as the "analytic style". In fact, it may be seen that the analytic style approaches philosophical enquiry in a unique manner. It takes the common concepts as the basis for enquiry into the roots of philosophical understanding. Descartes believed that this style of philosophic enquiry is not good for immature minds, which were dependent on a set of accepted norms and dogmas. Further Descartes believed that his ideas, which were revolutionary at that time, could elicit severe criticisms, which would cloud people’s perception and prevent them from understanding his principles. He was of the view that his principles would be accepted with time when people became mature for it. "In establishing the ground for science, Descartes was at the same time overthrowing a system of natural philosophy that had been established for centuries-a qualitative, Aristotelian physics. In a letter to Mersenne, dated 28 January 1641, Descartes says "these six meditations contain all the foundations of my physics. But please do not tell people, for that might make it harder for supporters of Aristotle to approve them. I hope that readers will gradually get used to my principles, and recognize their truth, before they notice that they destroy the principles of Aristotle." [Smith, 2003] The main approaches that were used by Descartes for his philosophic enquiries are "The first was never to accept anything as true if I did not have evident knowledge of its truth; that is, carefully to avoid precipitate conclusions and preconceptions, and to include nothing more in my judgements than what presented itself to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I had no occasion to doubt it. The second, to divide each of the difficulties I examined into as many parts as possible and as may be required in order to resolve them better. The third, to direct my thoughts in an orderly manner, by beginning with the simplest and most easily known objects in order to ascend little by little, step by step, to knowledge of the most complex, and by supposing some order even among objects that have no natural order of precedence. And the last, throughout to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that I could be sure of leaving nothing out." [Burnham and Fieser, 2001] An analysis of his works would suggest that Descartes was in direct opposition to the ideas and beliefs of Aristotle. Descartes opposed the view of Aristotle in physics and natural sciences and often criticizes people who slavishly followed Aristotle without careful analysis of scientific concepts. According to Descartes, the essence of mind is thinking and the essence of matter is extension or dimensionality in space. Thus if matter is incapable of doing such these things as thinking, choosing etc. - and human bodies are merely material things, then people cant simply be their bodies, but must have minds in addition to bodies. Dualism is essentially the contention that there exists a deep separation of the physical and the mental aspects of human existence and experience. This difference is manifest through the separation of the subjective and the objective parts of experience, through the difference between perception and reality. The concept of dualism, which had emerged in various forms in early philosophies about cognitive reasoning, gained prominence through the efforts of Rene Descartes in his Meditations. The philosopher attempted to isolate all physical experience and perception from reality through a method of doubt, thus rationalizing the distinction between mind and matter. For Descartes, the essence of matter was “extension”, i.e., having spatial dimensions, whereas the essential nature of the mind, or the self, was the ability to think or reason. Descartes assumption that mind and matter could have a cause-and-effect relationship leads us to what is known as interaction-ist dualism. Since Descartes reached what is now known as the ‘Cartesian impasse’ in rationalizing reality, classical empirical philosophers of mind have relied on the concept of dualism for an explanation of reality Objections to the Philosophy of Descartes There were of course a lot of objections to the ideas of Descartes; particularly because it often came into direct conflict with established norms. For example, the ‘Cartesian Circle’ objection is very important. It may be seen Descartes has accepted the existence of God implicitly and believes that the theories that he reached upon will be true because God would not allow him to be wrong. In this context, it needs to be seen what methods Descartes used to define God. Did he actually perceive God? Assuming that he had perceived the existence of God, would he in accordance with his established method of analysis be able to undoubtedly prove the existence of God in another person? It may be seen that the acceptance of God, which is also a philosophical subject and which is beyond the grasp of science could not be explained adequately by him. It may be said that the unmaking of Descartes was initiated by his Cartesian circle philosophy. Descartes used the Cartesian Circle paradigms, which essentially is a circular reference approach to try and solve many questions related to philosophy. Using the same Cartesian Circle hypothesis his assumptions, which are based on the belief of God does not stand the test of critical philosophy. Descartes believed that clear perception is true because God would not allow him to perceive wrongly. Now when it can be proved that the concept of God was just an assumption of Descartes, the Cartesian Circle theory also proves that the clear perceptions that were dependent on God fail. "Thus the criterion of clear and distinct perception depends on the assumption that God exists, which in turn depends on the criterion of clear and distinct perception" If one is proved wrong the other does not stand by its own [Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2003]. There are other schools of thought as well which doubt the existence of the mind body relationship. Critics of Descartes argue that if the body is different from the mind, and if the body obeys only the laws of nature, how is that the mind influences the body and vice versa? How is it that the mind causes the body to be weak? How is it that the afflictions to the body cause the mind to despair? Later philosophers argue that the observations of Descartes could have been influenced by his regard for science, which in turn could have made him to state categorical views on the existence of mind and body. The arguments put forward by other philosophies on dualism are also important when we consider Descartes’ ideas. For example in the Hindu philosophy, dualism is based on the assumptions of atman and Brahman. They are essentially the same entities but the atman is that part of Brahman, which is enclosed in the body while, Brahman is the reality, the ultimate truth that pervades all through the universe. Here, the atman is an entity that exists beyond the mind. That is, according to the Hindu philosophy, there are other levels of existence that goes beyond the mind. According to this philosophy, the mind is also subject to destruction even though it is subtle. Hence, the Hindu philosophy is based on the existence of a universal conscience and not individual conscience as described by the mind. Descartes ideas can also be deduced to prove the existence of God as a physical being that has its own conscience and mind. Hence, many philosophers have attacked the theory because god cannot have a mind and intellect, which if present, would equate god with man. Philosophers have also drawn exception to the fact that the ideas of Descartes can be deduced to reinforce a dogma or belief that could indicate that there exists an iconic God. Hence, the theories of Descartes have drawn flak from many who consider the real nature of man and God to be the same. The counter arguments by Descartes to these charges are also not that compelling because Descartes replies that an understanding ‘suited to scale’ of our finite mind is enough to believe that God exists. He also acknowledges that a finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite God but he chooses to be cautious and opines that a finite mind can comprehend at least the existence of God. In Meditations 5, he mentions that the idea of God must be innate in him because God left that stamp when creating Descartes. It is from this mark that the idea of God permeates in us. Descartes himself has acknowledged that these ideas are abstract and even he may change them once he is convinced of its falsity in future. There is no doubt that Descartes developed a new way of approaching science and philosophy. In fact, it was he who showed the world that the two disciplines could mix well. He was instrumental in proving that philosophy can be developed as critically as one develops scientific principles. He also showed that philosophy is nothing to be awed about, but is something that can derived and deduced using proper scientific principles and theories. Descartes was known for his inclination to science and scientific principles and it was only natural that he used science to deduce philosophical concepts. However, Descartes like other philosophers, falters as he tries to explain higher concepts of philosophy like God and the mind. He does not have a correct explanation or a method that can conclusively prove that God exists. Finally, we see him resigning himself to the limitations of a finite mind. While Descartes’ ideas help us to lay the foundations of philosophy, it may be said that his ideas are more inclined to the methods of science and he tries to derive philosophic principles as he would derive theories in science. This is perhaps the biggest drawback of his ideas because science and philosophy are two streams of discovery. While science needs substantial and tangible evidence to prove concepts, philosophy deals with the subtle plane that is perceived by our finer senses. Descartes’ view on philosophy is also rather limited in that it deals with only those elements that are perceived by the senses. He does not elaborate on those aspects that escape the physical world and have a more subtle existence. For example, he does not speak about conscience as a reality. He also does not consider that the conscience could be an entity that is beyond the mind and the intellect, an idea that equates soul to the conscience. However, he must be credited for helping us to develop a philosophy that is guided by precise and matter of fact reasoning. Works Cited Smith, Kurt. Descartes Life and Works. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (spring 2003 Edition). Edward N. Zalta (ed.). 5 June. 2007 . René, Descartes. (1901), (John Veitch Trans). “Descartes’ Meditations” 5 June. 2007 . Descartes, R. (1989). Discourse on Method and the Meditations, Translated by John Veitch. Prometheus Books. Burnham Douglas and Fieser James. 2001, René Descartes. (1596-1650). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 5 June. 2007 . Cartesian Circle. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2003, Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service 27 Oct. 2003. 5 June. 2007 . Read More