Descartes' Dualism vs. Darwinian Monism
Descartes’ dualism has been considered a philosophical concept that aids in the understanding of the mind-body relationship. Descartes asserted that the mind and body are two separate entities amidst the fact that they are ‘joined’ to perform a particular function among humanity. While Descartes believes in this view on the two entities, Darwin, through his concept of monism, claimed that there is no distinction between the mind and body since only the physical matter (a substance) exists on earth. However, this would be refuted owing to the logic presented by Descartes who illustrates that actually the two entities would function connectively. This paper, therefore, argues that Cartesian dualism is more logical in explaining reality compared to Darwinian monism.
Descartes' Doubt Argument
Descartes used the ‘doubt argument’ to illustrate the dualism between the body and the mind. According to the philosopher, although humanity can doubt their physical existence, it is obvious that there must be ‘thought’ which permits and directs the imagination process. He claims that although humans can easily forget about the existence of the body, it would be hard to refute about the mind. The author states, “…Now that I have convinced myself that there is nothing in the world… does it follow that I don’t exist either? / No it does not follow; for if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed” (Descartes p. 4). Based on his argument, Descartes asserts that it is plausible for all objects including the sky, the earth, and other bodies to cease to exist. However, he assures himself that he ought to be “something” who does the thinking. This is very logical since it is obvious that a “thinking thing” must exist in order to imagine of the existence or non-existence of the bodies, thereby proving that the body and the mind are separate entities.
Divisibility-Indivisibility Concept
Descartes also proposes the divisibility-indivisibility concept to illustrate the existing difference between the body and the mind. According to him, the body is just an object that has unique form which can be quantified including shape, motion, size, and extension. He states that, “whatever has a definite shape and position, and can occupy a ·region of· space in such a way as to keep every other body out of it” and that which can be “perceived by touch, sight, hearing, taste or smell” is a body (Descartes p. 6). On the other hand, he considers that which can only be perceived as indivisible subject and described in qualitative terms as the ‘mind.’ Considering this argument, it would be right to consider human beings as body as they have definitive forms while thinks like smell, color, and dream as ‘mind’ objects which can only be imagined. For instance, an amputated arm can exist in itself, thus, reflecting a divisible object while the mind cannot be conceived partly, thus, an indivisible object.
Darwinian Monism
Unlike Descartes, Darwin asserts that man is just a simple product of an algorithmic process. He claimed that nature and all other life including animals and humans evolved through chance mutation, thus, creating the rest of the world. As such, he believed in NO soul as he considered humans to be tantamount to the environment as the world remains a machine that fulfills the needs of humanity. One would agree with Darwin on few levels; first on the idea that species change over time which has been proven by scientists and anthropologists. Secondly, his ideology of survival for the fittest seem plausible as weaker species and organisms always end up dying because of their weakness to acquire necessary resources. It is also true when Darwin asserted that nature follows a particular set of laws which governs it as a machine.
Critique of Darwinian Monism
However, assuming that the ‘mind’ does not exist and that species to not have independent thinking is logically incorrect. Considering Darwin’s idea would mean that one supports determinism which means that all every action and decision made by humans is a result of previous action or states of affairs. Since human beings have free will and would have their own thoughts as did Descartes, it is obvious that Darwin’s conclusion is flawed. In addition, Darwin fails to explain the concept of consciousness which is an inner state of being. Although he reduces the conscious experience of humanity to physical descriptions, it still remains questionable how individuals are able to have conscience or inner state experience. Furthermore, Darwin’s argument posits that in the aspect of survival, there is nothing worth living for aside from reproduction, breathing and eating. This raises the question of the purpose of mind evolution; it would not be possible for the brain to evolve if it never aimed at enhancing the thinking capacity for humans to have abstract thoughts about reality. Thus, it is right to conclude that Darwin’s monism only had a purpose of understanding the simple being, rather than exploring the process itself.
Works Cited
Descartes, Rene. "Second Meditation: The Nature of the Human Mind, and How it is Better Known than the Body'and'Sixth Meditation: The Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and Body'in Daniel Robinson." (1998).
