Looks at the different interpretations of Rene Descartes’s writings on dualism in human nature.
This paper looks at Descartes’s approach to dualism, how he based his idea on what Augustine wrote in his work, “City of God”, and considers how the advances made in the life sciences has caused modern society to revisit the concept of dualism.
“As a philosophy used to understand the composition / nature of mankind, Cartesian Dualism had its origin’s with Rene Descartes. Descartes approached the subject of mankind’s unique identity by wrestling with logical arguments that were intended to answer metaphysical problems. His writings expanded the limited religious framework of his day, as he attempted to understand the nature of mankind as dual, both body and soul, through means that were not attached to an individual creed. His work has long been looked to as the basis for understanding the unique position which mankind holds in the universe (Charles Darwin, please take notice.)”