Free Essay About Descartes: A Dualist Sustained By God

Descartes was a philosopher that proposed a dualist solution to the mind-body debate. The following quote, from his Meditations, VI.9, evidences this: "And, firstly, because I know that all which I clearly and distinctly conceive can be produced by God exactly as I conceive it, it is sufficient that I am able clearly and distinctly to conceive one thing apart from another, in order to be certain that the one is different from the other, seeing they may at least be made to exist separately, by the omnipotence of God". As one can see after reading the text that follows the quote, this refers to the conception, and thus existence, of a difference between the res cogitans and the res extensa, mind and body, respectively. The body is linked to intuition and extension, while the mind is tied to conception and non-extension.
The argument that Descartes uses is that the mere fact that he can conceive something that is different from the mind, is enough to make it exist as a separate entity because of God. The fact that He is omnipotent implies that whatever Descartes conceives can be made to exist by Him. Therefore, by placing God in the position to guarantee undeniable truths, Descartes is allowed to take an idealist stance, and to propose that because he can think it, it exists. Therefore, as imagination cannot be reduced to thought, and, similarly, the body cannot be reduced to the mind, Descartes feels certain that these substances must be different, because of his relying on God as a sustainer of truth.