Substance Dualism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Substance Dualism - Essay Example This essay discusses that pertinent questions regarding mind-body processes are the ontological and the causal question. The former attempts to establish what amounts to mental state and to physical state, while the latter attempts to establish whether either of these states influence one another, and the manner in which such influence, if it exists, is achieved. Substance dualism addresses these questions by observing that properties describe objects, hence the existence of one makes the other inexcusable. A normal human being is thus made up of two substances, the first being the body, and the other being the person, which refers to the mind and is logically synonymous to the soul. Definition of the latter transcends thought and consciousness, as noted by Descartes, yet it remains plausible to say that the person and the body have dissimilar identities, hence are different substances.This research highlights that  the argument for substance dualism rests with Descartes conception s that the essence of mind is thought while that of the body is extension, with the resulting duality being reminiscent of the duality of substances.  The first premise is rather direct since it espouses that if two objects say x and y are identical, then they must be the same object, which implies that one cannot exist without the other.  Denying the co-existence would mean denying the very first relationship, that of identity.