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Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Descartes In part four of the book Discourse on Method, Descartes claims that both body and mind are separate. He states that “his ‘I,’ that is to say, the Soul by which I am what I am, is entirely distinct from the body” (Descartes 29). In support of this claim, which is known as the Dualism of mind and soul, he ventures broadly into several premises which he narrows down to the doubt argument, in which he focuses on distinguishing false from what is considered truth. In this study, the claim above is analyzed to understand its meaning, the premises, and possible limitations. The meaning of the claim In the above claim, Descartes meant that mind is a separate entity from the body in relation to a thinking being. He, therefore, uses a proposition that “I am thinking. Therefore, I exist” (p. 33), meaning that one has to exist to think. Here, Descartes seems to insist on his essence of thought as he questions the nature of the self that he claims to be sure that it exists. He validates his existence with doubt, and by reasoning that he must be thinking being to doubt. The reasoning used by Descartes to support the claim The premise that Descartes uses to support his claim on dualism is that of doubt argument. The argument is twofold. First, He felt that as a thinking entity, he can doubt that his body exists since our senses can deceive us especially when we are asleep without them being true. With this argument, he concludes that things are not what we can imagine (or think). Second, Descartes notes down that it was impossible for him to question his existence if he could think. He, however, imagined
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