Mindy Dog Versus Rene Descartes - Page 4

Part of: Science and Being

This fact was undeniable. But herein lay a monumental problem for Descartes. Having separated mind from body, leaping the certainty gap from one to the other became a serious problem. His simple solution, while acceptable to Descartes, was not readily accepted in philosophical circles. In Discourse on Method, he explains that since God exists, the Almighty could not deceive us about reality or he would not be all-perfect. Using Rene Descartes reasoning, eliminating the mind-body gap he created has only been partially successful down through the centuries. Other philosophers have simply ignored it, or denied it, or explained it, with their own ideas about how knowledge reaches our minds from the outside world.

 

My Solution to Cross the Gap
In my mind, however, there is no problem crossing the gap of Decartes’ mind-body dualism. My solution is extremely simple and probably falls more into the realm of common sense than any philosophical answer.

Above, I briefly talked about Mindy Dog and her instinct to eat when she was hungry. I talked about the simple creature, planaria using its pharynx tube to ingest food. Finally, I mentioned the single celled, slipper shaped paramecium which spends its life hunting for bacterial food.

Now, picture Descartes sitting in his room. His pet dog, which he considers a mere machine governed by instinct (Discourse) lies sleeping at his feet. Otherwise, he is alone and meditating. Through his mind repeatedly glides, “Cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am, cogito, ergo sum, I think therefore I am.” He sits contemplating how he will ever reason from that undeniable truth to the fact that he has a body. His thinking disturbs him deeply because he wonders, “Maybe I am just a mind. Maybe my body is not real. Maybe I just think it is out there in reality.” So taken is he by his contemplation that he ignores time passing. After an entire day slips by, Descartes feels his first hunger pang. He ignores it because his body just might not be there. He knows he must “withdraw the mind from the senses” (Meditations) because his craving for food might not exist. Several more hours slide slowly by; his hunger grows, especially his desire for a good cup of hot coffee. He needs stimulation from food.

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Article Author: Regis Schilken

Regis Schilken's stories reflect his search for meaning in a very human but frightening way. Two of his books have been published: The Oculi Incident and The Island Off Stony Point. A third, You Know When will be published this year. …

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