Philosophy
Order Description
“I am, therefore, precisely only a thinking thing, that is, a mind, soul, intellect or reason – words the meaning of which was formerly unknown to me. But I am a genuine thing and I truly exist. But what kind of thing? I just said: a thinking thing” (Descartes, Meditations).
Descartes is often associated with a dualist view in the philosophy of mind, which treats mind as substantially distinct from the body, and which often treats personal identity as a matter of mind rather than the body. What are Descartes’s arguments for the dualist position? Are they sound? Why do they continue to compel the attention of philosophers today?
make sure you append a bibliography to your essay and that you identify any quotations or ideas borrowed from secondary sources. accessible resource for secondary discussion is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu
Sources you can used (not mandatory): texts from Pascal and Kant