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Descartes and Body-Mind Dualism Rene Term Paper
Pages:7 (1991 words)
Sources:1+
Subject:People
Topic:Rene Descartes
Document Type:Term Paper
Document:#81747431
If at the moment of stating this theory, animals were simply regarded as mindless creatures, their current status has changed. A large number of organizations received state funds to investigate the lives of animals and came up with astonishing results. The researches developed concluded that most animals had a very active brain and could reach high level of intelligence and communication skills. As such, even if a large part of their movements were done due to instinct or "purely mechanical force," there was a set of movements that was done due to thinking.
Still related to the issue of mechanical forces is the existence of robots. However they are indeed metal objects that do not think for themselves, their creation was only possible through intensive mind work. In other words, even if throughout their existence, the robots themselves do no thinking, somebody else does it for them. In order to develop the robot's body, several minds were brought together to create, maintain and constantly improve the features of the metal object. As such, the body is once again directly linked to the mind.
5. Conclusions
Rene Descartes is a renowned thinker who placed mathematics at the core of all natural events. The intellectual is generally remembered as a philosopher, his contributions in this area being numerous. One of his most relevant theories is the dualisms of body and mind, in which Descartes states that the mind and body can exist and function independently from each other. The evidence and arguments to sustain the dualism have been widely analysed, some agreeing with them, others disagreeing.
Bibliography
December 9, 2002, Rene Descartes (1956-1650), ReneDescaters.com, http://www.renedescartes.com/,last accessed on October 8, 2007
Rene Descartes (1595-1650), OregonState.com, http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/descartes.html, last accessed on October 8, 2007
Robin Chew, March 1996, Rene Descartes, Philosopher, Lucid Cafe, http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96mar/descartes.html, last accessed on October 8, 2007
Daniel Garber, August 29, 2003, Descartes, Rene (1596-1650), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/DA026SECT8,last accessed on October 8, 2007
James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, 1998, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/,last accessed on October 8, 2007
Descartes' Arguments for Mind - Body Dualism, the University of Mississippi, http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/philosophy/courses/lawhead/history2/15c.descartes.mind-body.html, last accessed on October 8, 2007
Gordon L. Ziniewicz, 1997-1999, Descartes' Mind/Body Dualism, Table retrieved from Dr. Z's Philosophy Page, http://www.fred.net/tzaka/mindbody.html, on October 9, 2007
December 9, 2002, Rene Descartes (1556-1650), ReneDescaters.com
Rene Descartes (1595-1650), OregonState.com
Robin Chew, March 1996, Rene Descartes, Philosopher, Lucid Cafe
Daniel Garber, August 29, 2003, Descartes, Rene (1596-1650), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, 1998, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Descartes' Arguments for Mind - Body Dualism, the University of Mississippi
James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, 1998, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Gordon L. Ziniewicz, 1997-1999, Descartes' Mind/Body Dualism, Table retrieved from Dr. Z's Philosophy
Sample Source(s) Used
Bibliography
December 9, 2002, Rene Descartes (1956-1650), ReneDescaters.com, http://www.renedescartes.com/,last accessed on October 8, 2007
Rene Descartes (1595-1650), OregonState.com, http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/descartes.html, last accessed on October 8, 2007
Robin Chew, March 1996, Rene Descartes, Philosopher, Lucid Cafe, http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96mar/descartes.html, last accessed on October 8, 2007
Daniel Garber, August 29, 2003, Descartes, Rene (1596-1650), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/DA026SECT8,last accessed on October 8, 2007
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