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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
What Am I?: Descartes and the Mind-Body Problem

What Am I?: Descartes and the Mind-Body Problem

Almog, Joseph

Paperback

Philosophy

ISBN10: 0195177193
ISBN13: 9780195177190
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Apr 14 2005
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.40
Height: 0.37 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
In his Meditations, René Descartes asks, what am I? His initial answer is a man. But he soon discards it: But what is a man? Shall I say 'a rational animal'? No: for then I should inquire what an animal is, what rationality is, and in this way one question would lead down the slope to harder ones. Instead of understanding what a man is, Descartes shifts to two new questions: What is Mind? and What is Body? These questions develop into Descartes's main philosophical preoccupation: the Mind-Body distinction.

How can Mind and Body be independent entities, yet joined--essentially so--within a single human being? If Mind and Body are really distinct, are human beings merely a construction? On the other hand, if we respect the integrity of humans, are Mind and Body merely aspects of a human being and not subjects in and of themselves?

For centuries, philosophers have considered this classic philosophical puzzle. Now, in this compact, engaging, and long-awaited work, UCLA philosopher Joseph Almog closely decodes the French philosopher's argument for distinguishing between the human mind and body while maintaining simultaneously their essential integration in a human being. He argues that Descartes constructed a solution whereby the trio of Human Mind, Body, and Being are essentially interdependent yet remain each a genuine individual subject.

Almog's reading not only steers away from the most popular interpretations of Descartes, but also represents a scholar coming to grips directly with Descartes himself. In doing so, Almog creates a work that Cartesian scholars will value, and that will also prove indispensable to philosophers of language, ontology, and the metaphysics of mind.

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